, • I UDJ.CO m 



r^e 



AND 



Relic 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 







Slielf. 



UNITE!) STATES OF AMERICA. 



- 



*s1k/ 





STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION; 

(JR. 

©tscourses, Cfesaps, anD fiebteta* 

PERTAINING TO 

THEISM. INSPIRATION, CHRISTIAN ETHICS, 

AND 

EDUCATION FOR THE MINISTRY. 



BY 

ALVAH HOVEY, D.D.. LL.D. 

PRESIDENT OF NEWTON THEOLOGICAL INSTITUTION. 




SILVER. BURDETT, & CO.. PUBLISHERS, 
New York . . . BOSTOX . . Chicago. 

1892. 



Zs 




-p 



V" 



% 



tf 



Copyright, 
By Silver, Bdrdett, and Company. 



iHnttattg 4J3rrss : 
John Wilson and Son, Cambridge. 



PREFACE, 



TV /["ANY of the following Studies are now pub- 
lished for the first time ; but several of 
them have appeared in pamphlets or periodicals 
which are either out of print or inaccessible to 
the general reader. 

The subjects treated are believed to be of pres- 
ent interest to Christian people, and worthy of 
every man's attention. All of them pertain to 
religion and life, and they may be classed under 
four heads: Theism, Inspiration, Christian Con- 
duct, and Education for the Ministry. 

No one can be familiar with modern discussions 
about the possibility of knowing God or about the 
immanence of God, — in a word, about thorough- 
going agnosticism, monism, or idealism, — without 
seeing that these discussions reach to the very 
heart of religion and morality, or without desiring 
to contribute something, if possible, to a clear un- 
derstanding of the truth by thoughtful Christians. 



IV PREFACE. 

And the same may be said of recent discussions 
concerning the inspiration of the sacred writers, 
especially the prophets and apostles. No effort 
to ascertain the exact truth on this subject can 
be too earnest or patient. And with scarcely an 
exception the writer has chosen the topics of this 
volume, not so much because of his personal in- 
terest in them (though it is great), as because of 
their practical significance at the present hour. 

In some of these Studies the published opinions 
of eminent writers are controverted ; but an effort 
has been made to state their opinions correctly 
and controvert them fairly. Contention for the 
truth should always spring from love of truth, 
and should be conducted without bitterness. 

These Studies are now offered to the public, 
with humble prayer to the Father of lights that 
he will make them useful to some of his per- 
plexed children, and especially to some of those 
with whom the writer has had the pleasure of 
discussing the same themes in the class-room. 

Newton Centre, 

January, 1892. 



PUBLISHERS' NOTE. 



T^HE personality of a man is ever associated more 
or less intimately with whatever he contributes 
to the world in any department of human interest. 
This is especially true of those who, to any degree, 
mould the thought and help to determine the convic- 
tions and conclusions of their fellow-men. The honored 
and revered teacher can no more be separated from that 
which he has imparted than can the great artist or sculp- 
tor from the product of his genius. His is the person- 
ality no less than the skill of a Phidias, in the truest and 
highest sense. To those who have enjoyed the personal 
influence and instruction of President Hovey, therefore, 
no less than to that larger circle to whom he is known 
and by whom his labors and attainments are appreci- 
ated and prized, the Publishers feel that they have per- 
formed a grateful service, in so far as their agency has 
been in any way influential in prevailing upon him to 
make accessible in this volume his views and conclu- 
sions on so many subjects of present and vital interest. 
The portrait which forms the frontispiece (though in- 
cluded with the reluctant consent of the author) will, it 
is believed, give added interest and special gratification 
to many who will possess this volume. 



TABLE OF CONTENTS. 



Cjjetsm. 

Page 

Our Knowledge of Infinites 1 

The Relation of God to Nature : A Review .... 23 

God and the Universe 57 

Christian Science and Mind Cure 71 

3Fttsptrattcm. 

The Sacred Writings described 90 

Inspiration of the Prophets and Apostles 108 

Inspiration of the Scriptures 182 

The New Testament as a Guide to the Interpretation 

of the Old Testament 218 

Christian Conduct. 

The Golden Rule 232 

The State and Religion 246 

The Lord's Day: Duty and Manner of keeping it . . 271 

Divorce according to the New Testament 321 

Doctrine of the Higher Christian Life examined . . 344 

Imposition of Hands in Ordination 429 



vili TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

©tJucatton for t&e JflUrngtrp. 

Page 

Preparation for the Christian Ministry 440 

Value of Systematic Theology to Pastors 476 

Character tested by Religious Inquiry 497 

Post-Graduate Fellowships 513 

A Good Church History 533 



Index of Scripture Texts 561 

Index 567 



STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 



OUK KNOWLEDGE OF INFINITES. 

THE question which we propose to discuss has been 
often asked by thoughtful men, and there is reason 
to suppose that many are considering it at the present 
time. It would, indeed, be surprising if Christians, who 
believe in the existence of an infinite God, did not give 
it their serious attention. And it would be no less sur- 
prising if mental philosophers, who are seeking to ascer- 
tain the extent of knowledge possible to man, did not 
examine it with the utmost care. The same may also be 
said of many persons whose minds have been perplexed 
by the contradictory views of able writers on this theme. 
To these may be added numerous devotees of physical 
science, who might have been expected to feel but little 
interest in that which lies beyond the range of observa- 
tion, but who have given much thought to this question, 
and are themselves ready enough to discuss it. 

If now it be asked: Why are men who have been 
trained to physical research, who have applied their 
minds for years to objects of sense/'and who, perhaps, 
discard religious obligation, restlessly intent on discover- 
ing whether there is, or is not, something back of these 

l 



2 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

objects, and dimly revealed by them ? Why do they not 
rest content with a knowledge of that which is phenome- 
nal, dependent, and finite, instead of seeking to peer into 
the dark beyond and discover, if possible, some traces of 
the infinite ? we can respond, only, that this restless 
search must spring from the depths of their cognitive 
and religious nature, from the very constitution of their 
souls. Now, while it has been argued by able metaphysi- 
cians that our knowledge is restricted to finite objects, 
others no less able have maintained that it embraces, in a 
partial way, infinite objects. And the arguments for the 
one opinion often seem to be so nearly balanced by those 
for the other, that the inquirer after truth feels himself 
called upon to examine the whole question afresh. In 
this state of the case, we cannot think it will be labor 
wasted to go over some part of the ground once more, 
and assign our reasons for holding that we have a partial 
knowledge of infinite objects. 

By the word " objects " must be understood objects of 
thought, whether these be substantial entities, possessing 
force, or unsubstantial forms, conditions, or relations of 
being. According to this use of the word, time and 
space, arithmetical and geometrical truths, together with 
the first principles of morality, and perhaps of knowledge 
in general, are objects of thought or cognition, — as truly 
so as are the stars of heaven or the particles of sand on 
the sea-shore. We insist on this comprehensive meaning 
of the word, both because it is philosophically correct, 
and because it brings into our subject important materials 
needed for illustration and proof. 

It is philosophically correct ; for there is, in reality, no 
better reason for denying that space and time are objects 
of thought, than there is for denying that matter and 



OUR KNOWLEDGE OF INFINITES. 3 

force are such objects. The action of the mind in cog- 
nizing the former is as natural and necessary as its action 
in cognizing the latter ; and there is no process of criti- 
cism tending to prove its action deceptive in the former 
case which cannot be matched by a similar process 
tending to prove it deceptive in the latter. In his work 
on " Modern . Philosophy," Professor Bowen borrows from 
Schopenhauer a tabular statement of twenty-eight truths 
concerning time and twenty-eight concerning space, 
which are " necessary and universal, since it is impossible 
to doubt any one of them, or to derive it from mere 
experience." Can we know and describe twenty-eight 
properties of that which is not an object of thought? 
Moreover, this interpretation of the word " objects " 
brings into our theme important materials for proof and 
illustration. For should it appear that our knowledge of 
such infinites as time and space is trustworthy, it will 
certainly follow that we need not and must not distrust 
our knowledge of God simply because He is infinite. 
There may be other grounds for calling in question our 
knowledge of Him, but not the mere fact of His being- 
infinite. 

But if, on the other hand, it should appear that our 
supposed knowledge of time and space is illusory, there 
will be greater reason than might otherwise appear for 
distrusting the knowledge which we seem to have of a 
Supreme Being. 

The word " infinite " is not used by us in a pantheistic 
sense. That sense is, indeed, perfectly intelligible ; but, 
as Dean Mansel has shown, the term cannot be applied 
to God in that sense without leading to numberless diffi- 
culties and contradictions. Yet he insists upon that as 
the only true meaning of the word, asserting that " the 



4 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

metaphysical representation of the Deity, as the absolute 
and infinite, must necessarily . . . amount to nothing less 
than the sum of all reality." Nay, he takes another s,tep, 
and affirms, " That which is conceived as absolute and 
infinite must be conceived as containing within itself the 
sum, not only of all actual, but of all possible modes of 
being. For if any actual mode can be denied of it, it is 
related to that mode, and limited by it ; and if any possi- 
ble mode can be denied of it, it is capable of becoming 
more than it now is, and such a capability is a limita- 
tion." That is to say, the absolute and infinite must 
include in itself personal and impersonal, holy and sinful, 
uncreated and created, independent and dependent, modes 
of being : it must be a synthesis of all contradictories ; it 
must be " the one and the all." Such a statement proves 
that a pantheistic interpretation is not given, and must 
not be given, to the terms " absolute " and " infinite " 
when they are applied to God ; but it does not prove that 
this is the only proper use of these terms, or that they 
may not be applied to God in another and proper sense. 
Indeed, Mr. Mansel has defined the word " absolute" in a 
very satisfactory manner. " By the ' absolute ' is meant 
that which exists in and by itself, having no necessary 
relation to any other being." This definition allows us to 
suppose that an absolute Being may freely originate and 
uphold other beings, while it forbids us to suppose that 
his own existence or action is dependent on them. Less 
satisfactory is his definition of the " infinite." " By the 
'infinite' is meant that which is free from all possible 
limitation ; that than which a greater is inconceivable." 
Here are two definitions ; and if by the former he means 
that in order to be infinite, a being must be free from all 
possible limitation, apart from his own free action, or the 



OUR KNOWLEDGE OF INFINITES. 5 

product of that action, we accept it as correct. But if he 
means that, in order to be infinite, a being must have no 
power or will to originate other beings and to stand in vol- 
untary relation to them, we must reject the definition as 
pantheistic, and inapplicable to the living God. So, too, 
if he means by the expression, " that than which a greater 
is inconceivable," a being so great that no conceivable 
addition can be made to his nature without marring its 
perfection and destroying its self-consistency, we accept 
the definition as correct. Thus understood, the nature of 
God is infinite, because he has power so great that no 
increase of it is conceivable, and goodness so great that 
no increase of it is conceivable. Yet dependent and sin- 
ful modes of existence are not included in His- being. In 
a word, our use of the word " infinite " justifies us in 
speaking of time as infinite ; of space as infinite ; of 
knowledge as infinite ; of power as infinite ; and of a 
being whose nature is the greatest and best conceivable, 
as infinite. 

Of the word " knowledge," which occurs in our theme, 
it may seem wholly unnecessary to offer any explanation. 
Yet there is reason to suppose that the principal difficulty 
may lurk in this very term. There is reason to believe 
that the view which one takes of the nature and origin 
of human knowledge in general will determine the view 
which he takes of our alleged knowledge of infinites. 
For if a consistent thinker believes that all knowledge 
originates in sensation, he will be certain to deny that 
man has any true knowledge of infinite objects. But if 
such a thinker holds that his own spiritual nature, as 
well as the world of sense, is a source of knowledge to 
him ; if he holds that the human mind can see universal 
and necessary truths by occasion of contact with objects 



6 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

of sense, his conclusion may be just the reverse. We 
adopt the latter view as the only one that is sufficient to 
account for the facts of consciousness. For it is evident 
that the necessity of some cause for every change ; of 
space as a condition of extended being ; of time as pre- 
supposed by recollection ; and the certainty that, in every 
possible instance, a whole is equal to the sum of all its 
parts, that two parallel lines can never meet or inclose a 
portion of space, and that the shortest distance between 
two points is a straight line connecting them, — it is evi- 
dent that these, and many other truths, are contributions 
which the mind itself makes to its own knowledge. By 
occasion of the actual, it perceives the necessary ; from a 
single instance it divines and sees a universal law. And 
it knows this law with a certainty of conviction which 
does not admit of any doubt. It may criticise its own 
action, and fail to discover the bridge by which it has 
passed the chasm that separates the actual from the 
necessary, the particular from the universal ; but it cannot 
fail to see that the passage has been made, so that it is 
now face to face with immutable principles and the nature 
of things, if not with God Himself. 

Lastly, we have characterized our knowledge of infi- 
nites as partial. This was necessary, because it is a self- 
evident truth that the knowledge of any being must be 
limited by his power to know; that as the human mind 
is finite, its powers of cognition must be finite ; and that 
with such cognitive powers its knowledge of infinite ob- 
jects must be extremely imperfect. But, if this be ad- 
mitted will it not follow that his knowledge of infinites is 
worthless? If the disparity between the finite and the 
infinite is inconceivably great, can it be made probable 
that limited knowledge of an unlimited object is worthy 



OUR KNOWLEDGE OF INFINITES. 7 

of the least confidence ? In answer to this question, 
we remark : 1. That human knowledge of any object, 
whether finite or infinite, is imperfect. This statement 
will not be called in question. The mind of man never 
comprehends all the causes, properties, relations, and his- 
tory of the simplest object in nature. The known every- 
where leads back and forward to the unknown. Human 
science is throughout fragmentary. There is no depart- 
ment or branch of it which is perfectly understood, by 
the greatest proficient. But is it certain that we know 
nothing about an object, because we do not know every- 
thing about it ? that we do not know that it exists, and 
has certain powers and relations, because we are ignorant 
of certain other properties which it may possess ? Is om- 
niscience the only knowledge worthy of the name ? the 
only knowledge that will direct one in the path of duty ? 
No rational man will affirm this. Nor will any one who 
has reflected much upon the problems of life undertake 
to state what ratio the known properties of an object 
must bear to its unknown properties, in order that knowl- 
edge may be useful. Hence it is futile for any one to 
insist on the view that, in order to have any proper 
knowledge of infinites, one must be infinite himself. 

We remark, 2. That imperfect knowledge of an infi- 
nite object may be just as valid as imperfect knowledge 
of a finite object. Of this there can be no doubt, if the 
judgment of the mind as to the character of its own 
action is accepted. For the mind perceives with perfect 
clearness certain properties of certain infinites. Take, 
for instance, time and space. The properties which it 
ascribes to these it cannot separate from its notion of 
them. These properties are affirmed with the same as- 
surance as the axiom that the whole of anything is equal 



8 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

to the sum of all its parts. And the only judge of truth 
is mind ; the only standard of evidence, of credibility, of 
certainty, of necessity, is reason. That which is accepted 
with the greatest confidence by the mind, acting nor- 
mally, is worthy of being thus accepted. Otherwise, 
knowledge is an illusion and reasoning vain. Hence, the 
most certain truths are those which it is impossible for 
any sane mind to perceive and also reject. And some of 
these truths are embraced in our knowledge of infinites. 
We may select as one the fact that duration or time is 
infinite. For there is no clearer intuition or judgment of 
the human mind than this, that for everything there 
must be a sufficient reason. Acute thinkers who deny 
this in respect to events in the world of sense, and affirm 
that a cause is merely a regular antecedent, having noth- 
ing to do in producing the so-called effect, are constrained, 
in spite of their theory, to admit the principle of a suffi- 
cient reason as valid in the realm of mind. For they 
attempt to account for — that is, to assign a reason or 
cause for — the notion of causality, by appealing to the 
influence of an orderly repetition of given events upon 
the mind. By this appeal they bear witness to a great 
law of their mental being — a law which they assume to 
be valid for all other minds, — a law which they implicitly 
honor by every appeal to the reason of their fellow-men, 
— a law which they instinctively apply to the operations 
of nature, and which they find to be a key to the changes 
in nature. According to this law of reason, every man 
assumes the existence of something from eternity. 
Whether that something be many or one, mutable or 
immutable, matter or mind, the fact, that something now 
is makes it certain that something has always been. But 
if something has always been, duration in the past has 



OUR KNOWLEDGE OF INFINITES. 9 

no beginning. And, if being or force, as scientific writers 
affirm, is imperishable, duration hereafter will have no 
end. Moreover, as the present moment does not really 
interrupt the continuity of existence, but the past flows 
without break into the future, men of science and phi- 
losophers of the positive school are brought face to face 
with being that is unlimited in duration, past or future. 
In other words, an object which is in one respect infi- 
nite is before them and is recognized by them. No 
sane scepticism can deny this. Thus, the man who re- 
jects the principle of causality makes haste to accept 
it ; the man who pronounces our knowledge of infinites 
illusory perceives and asserts that some kind of being- 
is infinite in duration. We hold, therefore, that our cog- 
nition of infinites, though imperfect, is no less trust- 
worthy than our cognition of finites ; and we hold this, 
because the mind itself, which is the only measure of 
truth or certainty, requires us to do so. 

We now add, 3. That imperfect knowledge of an in- 
finite object may include in itself the fact that the ob- 
ject is in reality infinite. And we call attention to this 
point, lest it should be supposed that a limited mind 
may be able to lay hold, as it were, of an infinite object 
without being able to know that it is infinite, — just as 
one can be in the atmosphere of our earth, and inhale 
it continually, without knowing its extent. To show 
that our knowledge, though imperfect, may embrace the 
fact that an object is itself infinite, we turn to one of 
the instances already mentioned. If anything is certain 
to a reflecting mind, it is this, that space is infinite. 
All limits of space must be in it, not around it. These 
limits may mark it off into inseparable parts, but they 
cannot circumscribe it as a whole. If the mind tries 



10 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

to fix a real boundary to it in any direction it soon per- 
ceives that space reaches beyond that boundary, indeed, 
beyond all boundaries, and is, by its very nature, illim- 
itable. In agreement with what we have said, the Duke 
of Argyle remarks, that " Both the great conceptions of 
Space and Time are, in their very nature, infinite. We 
cannot conceive of either of these as subject to limita- 
tion. We cannot conceive of a moment after which 
there shall be no more Time, nor of a boundary be- 
yond which there is no more Space. This means that 
we cannot but think of Space as infinite, and of Time 
as everlasting." Our knowledge of the infinitude of 
space rests, therefore, on the same foundation as our 
knowledge of space itself. If the latter is certain, so is 
the former. If things material, having length, breadth, 
and thickness, are known to exist, they are known to 
exist in space ; and if they are known to exist in space, 
space is known to be an objective reality ; and if space 
is known to be an objective reality and not a mere illu- 
sion of the mind, it is known by the same power which 
knows it at all to be illimitable or infinite. Nay, more ; 
the mind of man clearly perceives that empty space is in- 
destructible. As mere room for substantive being, and as 
having no life or power in itself, it can never be annihi- 
lated or changed. 

It appears, therefore, that even finite knowledge of an 
object may include the fact that the object is infinite. 
And it is proper to remark that our knowledge of this 
fact is not, as Sir William Hamilton supposed, a fruit of 
mental . imbecility. It originates in power, not in weak- 
ness ; in ability to see that the nature of an object forbids 
limitation, and not in the circumstance that our vision 
is too narrow to see the limits. This is admitted by 
Herbert Spencer: — 



OUR KNOWLEDGE OF INFINITES. 11 

"Our notion of the limited is composed, firstly, of a con- 
sciousness of some kind of being, and secondly, of a con- 
sciousness of the limits under which it is known. In the 
antithetical notion of the unlimited the consciousness of 
limits is abolished, but not the consciousness of some kind 
of being. . . . There is something which alike forms the raw 
material of definite thought, and remains after the definite- 
ness which thinking gave to it is destroyed." 

And in another place, he says : — 

"In the same manner that, on conceiving any bounded 
space, there arises a nascent consciousness, of space outside 
the bounds ; so, when we think of any definite cause, there 
arises the nascent consciousness of a cause behind it; and in 
the one case as in the other this nascent consciousness is 
in substance like that which suggested it, though without 
form." 

But this statement, though it is an improvement on 
the doctrine of Hamilton, cannot be accepted as an exact 
account of the mental action of which we are conscious 
in the case supposed. It would have been more correct 
to say that, together with a conception of bounded space, 
and by occasion of that conception, there arises in the 
mind a perception of space outside the bounds. And in 
so far as the raw material of thought is concerned, the 
latter is just as clear, valid, and indubitable as the former. 
The mind sees that there must be space outside the 
bounds as distinctly as it sees that there must be space 
within. It also perceives that, by virtue of its nature, 
space is unlimited, infinite ; that limits do not, in reality, 
separate one part of space from another, except by means 
of space ; and hence that all spaces unite, and are of ne- 
cessity one infinite space. 

Yet the words of Spencer may perhaps be justified, if 



12 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

by consciousness of space he means a sort of mental 
picture, like that of a landscape which one sees before 
him. With this definition of consciousness, it may be 
represented in the case supposed as " nascent." But with 
this definition, our consciousness of bounded space may 
also in many cases be described as nascent. For the ex- 
tent of space which the mind can image to itself at any 
moment is very small. The surface of any considerable 
lake would be far too great for the mind to grasp in this 
way. But it is doubtful whether such a consciousness of 
space is well described as nascent, — whether the mind 
does not rather, in the process of imaging, pass from 
limited space to limited space, forming a succession of 
mental pictures which it is unable to unite in one, though 
it clearly perceives that they must be in reality one. It 
is also doubtful whether we can form any mental picture 
of space itself, in distinction from objects in space or 
from limits to parts of space. 

But it is more important to observ# that a mental 
picture is by no means essential to knowledge. In other 
words, knowledge is not limited to objects of which we 
can form a mental picture. We can know with all possi- 
ble certainty what thought, feeling, or willing is, without 
being able to form a mental picture of any one of these 
states of consciousness. We can know the properties 
belonging to every perfect circle, without being able to 
form a mental image of every such circle. We can know, 
that every whole is equal to the sum of all its parts, 
without being able to form a mental image of every 
whole or of all the parts in any one whole. We can 
know that some kind of being or force has existed eter- 
nally, without having any mental image of being, of force, 
or of eternity. 



OUR KNOWLEDGE OF INFINITES. 13 

It is true that we can form a sort of picture in our 
minds of many things that have shape and limits ; but 
of realities, like force, volition, truth, and virtue, we can 
have no mental image ; and all reasoning which is founded 
oh the assumption that consciousness implies an image of 
its object before the mind's eye is futile. By occasion 
of its own volition, producing change, the mind perceives 
that every change must have a cause. By seeing an 
object in space, it discovers space itself, and perceives that 
by its very nature, space is infinite. Thus of the knowl- 
edge which it gains by normal action a large part arises 
from itself, from the light of its own rational nature ; 
and this part of its knowledge is inseparable from the 
rest. If this be unworthy of confidence, all the rest must 
be so likewise. 

We do not forget that this doctrine has been denied by 
Kant. But his assumption that the mind's judgment in 
regard to time and space is valid only for itself, but un- 
true in the objective world, seems to us wholly ground- 
less. All that can be urged in its favor may be summed 
up, if we mistake not, in the following remarks : 1. The 
nature of the human mind may be regarded as a sufficient 
cause for its judgment concerning time and space ; and it 
is unphilosophical to multiply causes needlessly. But in 
reply to this, we ask if it is rational to regard the uniform 
and necessary action of the human mind as a sufficient 
cause for error, for untruth ? Yet this is an assumption 
involved in Kant's doctrine, and this assumption strikes a 
fatal blow at the mind as a cognitive power. 2 The per- 
fect uniformity and necessity of the mind's judgment 
respecting time and space refer us to the nature of the 
mind as the only source of it. Why so ? If time and 
space are real in nature, why should they not be always 



14 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

the same ? And if they are always the same, why should 
they not be always apprehended as the same, even as the 
sum of tw T o and two is always perceived to be four, or as 
the shortest distance between two points is perceived to 
be a straight line connecting them ? Is there nothing 
real in the universe which is as immutable as the action 
of the human mind ? 3. Infinites cannot, as infinite, act 
upon a finite mind, and therefore cannot give it any evi- 
dence of their reality. But may not an infinite object 
act somewhere upon a finite object or mind as truly as 
the ether, which is practically infinite to the human eye, 
can act on the retina of that eye ? And may not the 
nature of an infinite object be so far revealed to a finite 
mind that the latter will perceive the former to be neces- 
sarily infinite ? These questions ought, we think, to be 
answered in the affirmative, in view of what has been 
said of time and space. 4. If time and space are in 
reality objective to the human mind they can never be 
known to be so, because their nature is such as to make 
no impression on the mind from without. In reply to 
this, we freely admit that the mind does not know time 
and space as active forces, like the will ; but we assert 
that it does cognize them distinctly as passive limits and 
conditions of being, — as limits from which no finite being 
can escape, and as conditions independent of which no 
finite being can exist. And there is no way of proving 
its action in this case deceptive. For that action is both 
natural and necessary. By distrusting it, therefore, the 
mind distrusts its own cognitive nature, and plunges into 
chaos and mental despair. We cannot, then, err in say- 
ing that the scepticism which rejects this action of the 
mind is absolutely unfounded. Professor Bowen charac- 
terizes it as " the most comprehensive and thorough-going 



OUR KNOWLEDGE OF INFINITES. 15 

system of scepticism that the wit of man has ever de- 
vised," and declares that, " without space, there is no co- 
existence, but the universe is contracted to a mathematical 
point, which is nowhere, and therefore has no relation to 
anything beyond itself ; without time, there is no succes- 
sive existence, but the past and future shrink into the 
indivisible moment which alone is present ; and even this 
disappears as soon as it begins to be." We adopt this 
criticism as just, and believe that, while men reason at 
all, they must hold time and space to be real conditions 
of finite existence as well as of human knowledge. For 
we know them to be objective and actual conditions of 
being in the same way and with the same certainty as we 
know that a whole is equal to the sum of its parts. 
To recapitulate, we have tried to show : — 
1. That the mere infinity of an object does not wholly 
withdraw it from our knowledge. The ether may be 
known equally well as a medium of sight, whether it be 
diffused through all space or be confined to certain parts 
of space. Its extension need not be supposed to affect its 
qualities as a medium of sight. The latter may be known, 
at least to some extent, though we are consciously igno- 
rant of the former. 2. That our partial knowledge of 
infinites is trustworthy, when treated as partial ; but if 
treated as complete it is liable to mislead. The latter 
statement scarcely needs illustration ; for it may be taken 
for granted that, as a rule, misconception will lead to 
misconception, a wrong conclusion will follow wrong 
premises. Yet if the premises are rightly conceived, in 
so far as nature or tendency is concerned, though imper- 
fectly apprehended in so far as force is concerned, the 
inference may be right as to character, though not as to 
amount. Benevolence will tend to what is good rather 



16 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

than to what is bad ; righteousness to what is right rather 
than to what is wrong. 3. That the infinity of an object 
may be known as a fact, though the mind cannot repre- 
sent it to itself by any sort of picture. It is discovered 
by reason, not by imagination. We can perceive that an 
object is infinite, or why it must be so, though we cannot 
comprehend the object itself. There is surely nothing 
absurd in this ; for the same is true of a thousand objects 
not strictly infinite, for example, the ocean, the sun, the 
solar system, the milky way. Our knowledge of these is 
confessedly imperfect, yet, within certain limits, real and 
useful : we do not comprehend the magnitude of any one 
of them, yet we do know something about every one of 
them. The same is true of infinites. 

Two questions remain unanswered, namely : Is there a 
Supreme Being, or Mind ? And, if so, is that Being, or 
Mind, infinite ? Our answer to the first of these ques- 
tions must be summary ; for it is only intended to prepare 
the way for an answer to the second. We have already 
called attention to the fact that philosophical thinkers 
are constrained, at the sacrifice of consistency in many 
instances, to seek a sufficient reason for every being and 
event. Moreover, it is now generally admitted that the 
known phenomena of existence and change must be 
accounted for in one of two ways ; either by tracing them 
back to the action of self-existent, but blind, forces in 
nature, or by tracing them back to the action of a self- 
existent" and Supreme Mind. The latter alternative is far 
more reasonable than the former. For it affords, as the 
former does not, an adequate explanation (1) of order and 
beauty in the material universe, even where these are of 
no conceivable advantage to the objects distinguished by 
them ; (2) of life in manifold gradation and endless vari- 



OUR KNOWLEDGE OF INFINITES. 17 

ety, adapted always to its habitat and sometimes adorned 
with a beauty of form and color which is useless to the 
animal possessing it ; (3) of reason and conscience, which 
reveal to man universal principles, laws, and duties, and 
connect his spiritual life, even here, with that which is 
unseen and eternal; (4) of that mysterious tendency to 
worship, which makes the privilege of personal commu- 
nion with God indispensable to the highest satisfaction 
of man ; and (5) of the historic phenomena of the Chris- 
tian religion, including the person, the miracles, and the 
resurrection of its Founder, together with the effect of 
His mission on the world. 

None of these things are satisfactorily accounted for 
by attributing their existence to the action of blind 
forces, working out unintended results. Hence, there 
must be a Supreme Mind, an intelligent Author and 
Director of things ; for such a Being is the only sufficient 
reason for what we see and know. 

But is this Being infinite ? We admit that an infinite 
cause cannot be presumed necessary to account for a finite 
effect; and we also admit that the created universe is 
finite. If, then, we limit our observation to the bare fact 
of a finite created universe, we cannot logically infer from 
it the existence of an infinite Maker. We can only infer 
the existence of a Being whose wisdom and power are 
sufficient to originate such a universe as we actually know. 
Whether he has any unrepresented wisdom, or reserved 
power, must be a matter of simple conjecture. But our 
observation should not be confined to the mere fact of a 
finite creation. The qualities, the duties, the needs, the 
aspirations and the probable destiny of the beings in- 
cluded in that creation, must also be considered. And it 
is quite possible that some of these will require for their 

2 



18 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

explanation the existence of an infinite' Being. Take, for 
instance, the religious nature of man. By virtue of a 
constitutional tendency, man is disposed to worship. The 
life to which he is moved by the deepest instincts of his 
spirit, and against many of his appetites, is a religious 
life, in which he renders true homage and service to a 
Supreme Being. If this be not so, the lessons of history 
and of experience are worthless. The later years of 
Auguste Comte bore witness to the indestructible power 
of the religious instinct in his nature; and the serious 
tone of Herbert Spencer, in certain passages which refer 
to the Absolutely Inscrutable Cause of all phenomena, 
reveals the same instinct in his soul. We are, therefore, 
entitled to say that man was made for a religious life. 
By whatever process he was brought into being, it was 
the intention of his Creator that he should worship and 
adore. 

But what sort of a being was he made to worship ? A 
superficial glance at history may seem to justify us in 
answering : Almost any being, rational or irrational, noble 
or mean, will satisfy the nature of man when it is seeking 
an object of worship. But further examination will show 
that this answer is not correct. History proves, indeed, 
that men may be so ignorant and low as to worship, or 
seem to worship, almost any object visible in heaven or 
on earth. But this historical phenomenon gives rise to 
several questions ; for example, can we say that even the 
most ignorant and debased of our kind really worship the 
objects which they seem to worship ? If they do, can we 
say that this worship satisfies the cravings of their reli- 
gious nature ? And if it does, can we say that it would 
satisfy that nature when properly enlightened and devel- 
oped ? No one of these questions can be safely answered 



OUR KNOWLEDGE OF INFINITES. 19 

in the affirmative. For it will be found, upon careful 
inquiry, that the homage which is ostensibly paid, by 
ignorant men, to any common object, whether living or 
lifeless, is really paid to some mysterious power or des- 
tiny which is associated in their imagination with that 
object. We seriously doubt whether the human soul can 
render any homage which deserves to be called religious 
to a natural object that is conceived as simply natural. 
Again, whatever may be the real object of worship in 
the case of idolaters, we are by no means certain that 
this worship ever satisfies, properly speaking, the religious 
cravings of their nature. Doubtless it satisfies them in 
part; and the nobler the object of worship, as appre- 
hended by the worshipper, the more satisfying will the 
service be ; but perfect trust, holy love, and unqualified 
obedience cannot have an imperfect being for their object. 
In so far as any one perceives and believes that there are 
imperfections in his god will his religious nature be un- 
satisfied. 

But we cannot confine our attention to the ignorant 
and debased, for they are not the only men who have a 
religious nature. Give them the benefit of knowledge, 
discipline, science, philosophy, and the instinct of worship 
still survives. It is constitutional, and remains in full 
force through all the changes of human society. But 
what sort of being can the truly enlightened worship ? 
What kind of nature must be possessed by him whom 
the wisest and the best of mankind can forever adore ? 
It may be answered without hesitation that it is not 
enough for him to be free from moral defect and distin- 
guished for great wisdom and power. Such a being, 
whom Matthew Arnold might properly call a magnified, 



20 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

non-natural man, would command a certain degree of 
respect, and perhaps of admiration, but he would fall far 
short, as an object of worship, of meeting the wants of 
the soul. If we appeal to the judgment of Christian 
scholars on this point, we shall find them virtually unani- 
mous in declaring that he who is God must be infinite in 
every natural and moral perfection. Unappalled by the 
mystery which is thus ascribed to his being and untroubled 
by the many passages of Scripture which speak of him 
as if he were finite and subject to the laws of time and 
space, they accept as literally true the highest statements 
concerning his nature, and look upon the anthropomorphic 
language of the Bible as a condescension to our weakness. 
And we are constrained to regard this unity of judgment 
as a proof that our religious nature was made for the 
worship of an infinite Being. 

For the scholars referred to are keen-sighted and inde- 
pendent, differing from one another on many points, both 
philosophical and religious. This agreement cannot, 
therefore, be pronounced merely accidental or traditional. 
It must spring from some very convincing evidence 
addressed to the soul from without, or from something in 
the deeper nature of the soul itself. But for any such 
evidence of the infinitude of God we seem to look in vain 
to the physical universe. That universe, as presented to the 
mind of man, is certainly finite; and cannot be said to make 
known of itself anything infinite. We therefore turn to 
the soul for an explanation of the agreement noted. Nor 
do we turn in vain. For we find that the soul, starting 
with the finite, discovers the infinite ; we find that the 
soul, starting with temporal being, perceives the certainty 
of eternal being ; we find that the soul, starting with a 



OUR KNOWLEDGE OF INFINITES. 21 

consciousness of moral and religious duty, divines the 
existence of a being whose power, knowledge, and good- 
ness are infinite. To such a being no soul can refuse 
homage on grounds of reason ; or, in other words, the 
soul which is 'made for worship is made for the worship 
of an infinite God. But to any being less than infinite — 
to any being whose excellence in this respect or in that 
could be fully compassed in however long a time by a 
finite mind — many a soul would be unable to pay such 
homage as it is made to pay. 

From this but one inference can be justly drawn, 
namely : that God is an infinite being. The alternative 
inference, that, being finite, He has given to man a reli- 
gious nature which can never be fully satisfied, is unrea- 
sonable. A finite being may, indeed, be supposed to have 
made mistakes, and possibly grave mistakes, in so delicate 
and difficult a matter as that of creating souls. But it is 
to be observed, first, that there is no solid ground on 
which to base the assumption that God is a finite being, 
— certainly no ground in the religious nature of man ; 
and secondly, that there is a vast amount of evidence 
going to show that God has made no such mistakes in 
the lower orders of animal life as this view supposes him 
to have made in the case of man. For in these lower 
orders of life constitutional wants are met by correspond- 
ing provisions. And the same is true of man if we look 
away from his religious capacity. Consider, then, what it 
is to assume that God is finite. It is to assume, 1. That 
something is true which neither intuition nor observation, 
nor evidence of any kind, affirms ; 2. That He who made 
the worlds has blundered in making man, by giving him 
a religious nature which yearns for an infinite God, 



22 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

while his Creator is finite; and, 3. That man's highest 
aspirations can never be fulfilled, however pure and 
faithful he may be. Nay, his progress in knowledge and 
virtue is almost certain to be a progress in religious dis- 
satisfaction. In view of these considerations, we do not 
hesitate to infer the infinitude of God from the religious 
nature of man. 1 

1 Baptist Review, vol. i. pp. 1 — 18. 



THE RELATION OF GOD TO NATURE. 

REVIEW OF LOTZE AND SGHURMAN. 

FOR the sake of brevity T propose to use the word 
" Nature " in a large sense, as the term " world " 
is often used, to denote all finite being whether living 
or lifeless, — " the total of all finite agencies and forces." 
But this use of the word must not be understood to rest 
upon its derivation from nasci, " to be born," or to commit 
us in the slightest degree to any theory of the manner 
in which finite bein^ has come into existence. For the first 
and principal question to be considered is precisely this : 
Are we to think of God as the Ground or as the Creator 
of nature ? In other words : Are we to think of nature 
as simply dependent on God, or as created and dependent 
on Him ? These questions are too brief to be perfectly 
clear ; and I will therefore proceed at once to describe and 
examine as well as I am able the two theories which they 
support. In doing this it seems desirable to begin with 
the first hypothesis, namely, that God is the eternal 
ground or soul of nature, both because this is a com- 
paratively new view among Christians, and therefore 
entitled to particular consideration, and because we feel 
compelled to reject it as less satisfactory than the second 
hypothesis ; for we prefer to close our discussion with 
what we hold to be true as to God's relation to nature, 
rather than with what we believe to be untrue. Negations 



24 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

are not the best aliment for mind or heart. And that 
there may be no mistake as to what the current hypoth- 
esis of God's immanence in nature really is, it must be 
somewhat fully represented in the language of its advo- 
cates. Of these I have selected two, Professors Lotze and 
Schurman. 

I. They teach that God is the Ground, hut not the Crea- 
tor, of nature or the world. While retaining the words, 
" create "and " creation," they do not use them to denote 
the origination of real being or substance. " The con- 
ception of creation," remarks Professor Lotze, " properly 
signified nothing more than this : that the world, with 
respect to its existence as well as its content, is com- 
pletely dependent on the will of God, and not on a mere 
involuntary development of his nature." In another 
place he states that creation " ought not to be used to 
designate a deed of God so much as the absolute depen- 
dence of the world upon his will." (Phil, of Eel. p. 74.) 

And Professor Schurman says that " the underlying 
truth of the dogma of creation is the eternal dependence 
of the world upon God" (Belief in God, p. 146). "Spirit 
is the eternal reality, and nature is the eternal manifesta- 
tion. Nature is the externalization of spirit, and no more 
separable from it than the spoken word from the thought 
it symbolizes " (lb. p. 156). " The material world ... is 
the continual efflux of the divine energy. Material things 
exist simply as modes of the divine activity ; they have 
no existence for themselves " (pp. 225 f.). There should 
be no doubt as to the meaning of these sentences ; but 
if, by any possibility there is, it will be removed by 
quotations that will be made in the sequel. How then 
is this view of God, as simply the eternal ground of 
nature, defended ? 



THE RELATION OF GOD TO NATURE 25 

In the first place, as compared with the theory of abso- 
lute creation, it is said to be thinkable, while the latter is 
" unthinkable." Says Professor Schurman : " To the modern 
scientist, as to the ancient Greek mythologist, the universe 
is eternal. . ... As a whole, it is not an effect of any- 
thing outside itself " (p. 152). " The world . . . is the 
expression of an ever-active and inexhaustible will " (p. 
173). On the other hand, he remarks that " no simile 
can make intelligible to us the creation of matter out of 
nothing, which is the real mystery " (p. 147) ; and on a 
previous page : " In a certain sense, no doubt the crea- 
tional dogma satisfies the yearning of the intellect for an 
explanation of things, but the explanation is so arbitrary, 
and even childish, that the persistence of the dogma can 
scarcely be due to theoretical considerations " (p. 142). It 
must be admitted that creation, as an act by which sub- 
stance or real being was originated, is strictly unique, a sui 
generis use of power. No simile of it can be found in the 
action of our wills, no picture of it formed by our imagina- 
tions. In this sense it is " unthinkable." But in the same 
sense an infinite being or mind is unthinkable. No other 
being is a " simile " of it. By way of antithesis it is sug- 
gested by a finite being, but it is not imaged forth by it. 
Creation is not " unthinkable" in the sense that, one cannot 
distinguish the act meant by the word from every other act, 
and so make himself understood when he speaks of it. Nor 
is the word " unthinkable " used by Professor Schurman in 
the sense of' incredible ; for the word <f incredible " does not 
suggest any particular reason why a statement or event 
cannot be believed, while the word " unthinkable " locates 
that reason in mental inability due to the constitution of 
the mind or to its want of experience. Creation may be 
called unthinkable either because we cannot comprehend 



26 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

the act, so as to see how it is possible, or because we have 
never performed or observed such an act and therefore 
deem it impossible. It is doubtless true, in the words of Pro- 
fessor Schurman, that " the attempt to picture the making 
of reality shocks the sound instincts of the naturalist ; " 
but we hold that no reasonable man can claim the ability 
to picture in thought all the activity of God who is an in- 
finite being. Professor Schurman believes in causal action, 
yet writes : " How causal action is produced, how it comes 
about that the realization of a certain condition effaces 
one state and superinduces another in the real world, no 
philosophy can pretend to explain." The same admission 
is made by Professor Lotze. But if causal action is think- 
able and even credible, though a mystery, why should not 
creative action, which is simply the highest term of 
causal action, be also credible ? Take another instance. 
Who is there that can comprehend the conscious life of a 
being who is not related to time and space ? Yet Professor 
Shurman says that " because man lives in God here and 
now, he shall live with God in the kingdom where time 
and space are not" (p. 254); and with Professor Lotze, he 
evidently believes that God is unconditioned by time or 
space. The German Professor, in his " Microcosmos," 
generally calls God the Infinite, and by an elaborate dis- 
cussion attempts to show that even " things are not in 
space, in which they can move, but space is in things 
as the form of an intuition through which they them- 
selves become conscious of their supersensuous relations 
to one another." " All relations . . . exist as rela- 
tions only in the relating mind at those times when it 
exercises its relating activity" (vol. ii. pp. 224, 225). It 
is certainly impossible to think or picture the conscious 
life of finite beings apart from time or space ; but one 



THE RELATION OF GOD TO NATURE. 27 

who can believe it to be true of them ought not to deny 
creation by an infinite being because it is unthinkable, 
that is, incomprehensible, or absolutely unique. 

But is not creation refuted by the axiom ex nihilo nihil 
fit ? By no means ; for the power of God, which is the 
exact opposite of nothing, is affirmed to be the real source 
of the world. x We hold that no a priori judgment of 
ours can determine what effects can be produced by in- 
finite power ; and when Professor Schurman remarks that 
" no simile can make intelligible to us the creation of 
matter," and seems to suggest by it that the creation 
of matter is more incomprehensible than the creation 
of mind or spirit, we demur; for we cannot see why 
matter may not have been originated by God as well 
as mind ; or why a certain relative independence, or 
reality, may not belong to matter as well as to mind. 
If God could make mind a real though dependent being, 
I am " childish " enough to think that he could make 

1 Says Professor Harris : " Although we cannot conceive the mode of 
creation, is there any contradiction in the idea that the Absolute Being 
could and did produce the material world, in which he manifests himself, 
under conditions of extension in space and succession in time 1 All the 
way through he recognizes two distinct realities, which he characterizes as 
spiritual and material, absolute and dependent, infiuite and conditioned. 
Does not this radical distinction of the realities of spirit and matter involve 
a dependent existence of the world as truly as it involves a dependent con- 
tinuance 7 The mystery lies at the point of any manifestation of the abso- 
lute in tbe finite, of any limitation of the absolute such that it is expressed 
in extension and succession. Is not this mystery increased rather than 
reduced by the supposition that the material universe is eternal 1 The 
idea of creation does not exclude but necessarily involves the constant 
energy and presence of God in the world he has made. But the eternal 
existence of matter, if of necessity, seems to render doubtful the energizing 
of God in its present movement, and to lead to the belief that the universe 
and God are not distinct, but only different modes of conceiving the same 
reality, or in a word, to thorough-going pantheism." — Andover Review, 
Jan. 1891, pp. 113, 114. 



28 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

matter a real, if more dependent and helpless being. If he 
could make an agent, he could make an instrument. If 
he could originate such a being as man who has a certain 
degree of energy under his own control, he could doubt- 
less originate another kind of being whose energy should 
be wholly controlled and directed by its maker. To deny 
that divine power can originate real being — can add any- 
thing to the sum-total of existence — is much like saying 
that such power is finite. 

This denial of proper creation is indeed very common 
at the present time. Thus Wm. W. Kinsley in an ex- 
cellent article on " Science and Prayer " (Bib. Sac. Jan. 
1891, pp. 137-8) remarks on the miracle of feeding the 
five thousand : — 

" There was no call for any new matter, as it was already 
at hand in vast abundance. Christians need not claim this 
[the creation of new matter]. Indeed, neither need they 
claim that, when, as it is recorded, in the beginning God 
created the heavens and the earth, he brought forth some- 
thing out of nothing, as too many unthinkingly believe. 
Scientists may well pronounce such a notion absurd. An 
achievement like that would transcend even divine power, 
for it involves a contradiction, an impossibility. Some- 
thing cannot come out of nothing. It is nowhere revealed 
that there ever was a time when matter did not exist." 

Who ever supposed that matter " came out of nothing," 
as the source of its existence ? Is it absurd to say that 
by the power of God matter was originated ? That there 
was nothing out of which it was formed by that power ? 
God can make the straw for his own bricks ; he can posit 
matter in place of nothing. Out of what do men build 
structures ? Out of existing materials. Out of what did 
God create matter or spirit ? Out of nothing. He made 
the stuff as well as the form. 



THE RELATION OF GOD TO NATURE. 29 

Yet creative power is denied by these writers to a Being 
who is pronounced infinite, chiefly because to us who are 
finite such power is unknown and mysterious. But so is 
causal efficiency unthinkable, so is existence unlimited 
by time or space. Indeed, our knowledge of infinite being 
is exceedingly defective, and it is clearly the part of wis- 
dom for us to assign no limits to divine power, save those 
which are found in divine reason and goodness. 

In the second place, creation is rejected because there 
is said to be no evidence that the world ever had a be- 
ginning. If nature is eternal, creation is a pious myth. 
And there is no valid argument, Professor Schurman 
avers, against the eternity of nature. Not even the doc- 
trine of evolution is incompatible with it, for there may 
have been an eternal succession of evolutions and disso- 
lutions. " It is of the essence of spirit to manifest or 
reveal itself. . . . And just because God is spirit, the 
world is his outward expression. Creation is the external 
self-revelation of God " (p. 139). 

But no proof is offered of these unqualified assertions. 
Would it not be wiser to concede our total ignorance 
whether it is of the essence of spirit to manifest itself or 
not ? And if it be deemed probable that spirit naturally 
tends to reveal itself, how do we know that it must do 
this by means of an " organism " or " externalization " ? 
One must be a bold philosopher to assert that spiritual 
beings cannot know each other or interchange thoughts 
and feelings without externalization. " Only as spirits," 
says Richard Rothe, " can persons dwell in each other ; " 
and if this word of a most original and profound thinker 
is true, externalization is not necessary in order to the 
mutual knowledge and communion of purely spiritual, 
beings. 



30 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

Again, we are assured that " when facts like these, that 
there was a period when the strata of the earth's crust had 
no existence, when the earth itself was not, . . . when 
sun, moon, and stars were a blank, and all our world one 
vast abyss of impalpable ether, . . . are cited to prove 
that the universe is an effect, the one important circum- 
stance is overlooked, that if at any given moment the uni- 
verse is an effect, its cause is found in the state of the 
universe at the preceding moment. We find no such 
thing as an absolute beginning" (p. 151). "As a whole 
it is not an effect of anything outside of itself " (p. 152). 
" It is true, natural history assures us there was a time 
when the earth held no living or thinking beings. But 
since they have actually appeared, it is certain there was 
never a time when nature had not the capacity of produ- 
cing them " (p. 155). That is, if we assume that " nature " 
and " universe " are synonymous terms, embracing in their 
signification all that is, — the so-called material cosmos, 
organic life, self-conscious spirit, and especially the Infinite 
Spirit, — we find in either of them all things and an explan- 
ation of all things. If we assume that nature is not only 
the ever-changing vesture or vocalization of God, but this 
vesture and God himself within it, we may say that there 
" never was a time when nature had not the capacity of 
producing " all the forms of life that now exist. But this 
is scarcely a justifiable use of the word " nature," and at 
best it only asserts a theory as to the relation of God to 
the world. The cosmological argument for the existence 
of God as the first cause of all things is repudiated, and 
the hypothesis of an eternal succession of changes in 
nature (which seems to be regarded as infinite though 
composed of finite elements) is accepted. We do not see 
how this affords any relief to reason. 



THE RELATION OF GOD TO NATURE. 31 

In the third place, Professor Schurman appeals in a 
cursory way to the conservation of force as opposed to 
the theory of creation. But we are unable to discover 
any such opposition. If it were an established fact that 
the amount of force in nature is always the same, though 
variously manifested, this fact would afford no proof or dis- 
proof of creation. Whatever may be the relation of physi- 
cal force to the will of God, we can easily believe that it is 
indestructible by any finite power. The vigor of the eter- 
nal may be in it by original gift or by constant infusion. 
Moreover, no evidence has been produced of the converti- 
bility of spiritual into physical energy. All that volition 
does when one lifts a given weight by his arm is to re- 
lease a corresponding amount of physical force which was 
latent in his nerves and muscles. This physical force 
does the work, though at the behest of the will. Pro- 
fessor Johnson's words are not too positive : " It is de- 
monstrable that physical energy is not convertible into 
mental, nor mental into physical ; and therefore the in- 
ference from the law of correlation that, in creating force, 
divine force was merely converted into physical is a ground- 
less inference." 

II. They teach that all real being is spirit or mind, 
while matter is but modes of divine action in finite minds. 
Says Lotze : " If we explain our meaning to be that 
' things ' are states of the action and passion of the Infi- 
nite we do not imagine that they . . . have reality as such 
states of the Infinite elsewhere than in minds ; we regard 
them rather as acts of the Infinite, wrought within minds 
alone, or states which the Infinite experiences nowhere 
but in minds." In another place, he remarks that " things 
and events are the sum of those actions which the highest 
Principle performs in all spirits so uniformly and cohe- 



32 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

rently that to these spirits there must seem to be a 
world of substantial and efficient things existing in space 
outside themselves" (vol. ii. p. 641). This sounds like 
idealism, pure and simple. And Professor Schurman uses 
similar language, thus : " As the reality of finite things 
is but a mode of divine activity, so their development 
according to law and purpose is but the conformity of 
the divine will to ideas of the divine reason " (p. 208). 
" The material world ... is the continuous efflux of the 
divine energy, and apart from God has absolutely no ex- 
istence. Material things exist simply as modes of the 
divine activity ; they have no existence for themselves " 
(p. 225). 

Yet neither Lotze nor Schurman is quite satisfied with 
this view. For Lotze says : " At bottom everything finite 
works only by that in it which makes it secretly bet- 
ter than it seems, by the essential power of the Infinite 
latent even in it ; the power and capability of action be- 
longs not to the outer wrapping of particular properties, 
but solely to the core, in so far as therein enveloped " 
(p. 384). And more explicitly: "We are accordingly 
constrained ... to conceive extended matter as a sys- 
tem of unextended beings that, by their forces, fix one 
another's position in space, and by the resistance which 
they offer to any attempt to make them change place, 
produce the phenomena of impenetrability and the contin- 
uous occupation of space " (vol. i. p. 358). And Professor 
Schurman asserts that " the science of later centuries has 
shown that we can draw no clear line between cogitative 
and incogitative beings, . . . and that this seemingly pas- 
sive inert matter that forms the stuff of the world consists 
of elements or molecules, whose essence lies in activity; 
and which can scarcely be distinguished from souls. . . . 



THE RELATION OF GOD TO NATURE. 33 

We know that nature is an infinitude of activities, rang- 
ing from molecules to souls, and forming an aggregate 
which is a cosmos, whose containing, vivifying, and or- 
dering principle is God " (p. 160). " He is the universal 
life in which individual activities are included as moments 
of a single organism" (p. 161). 

Perhaps it is not unfair to suppose that these philosophers 
find it difficult to deny reality to what does and must ap- 
pear to our minds to be " a world of substantial and effi- 
cient things existing in space outside the mind," and so 
are a little more than willing to attribute mentality to 
objects which give no sign of it, to objects in which the 
spiritual principle is latent or, at least, unconscious. For, 
having come to the conclusion that the ground of all 
things is a living spirit, and that creation is impossible 
to thought, they are naturally predisposed to assume the 
presence of spirit in everything which asserts itself to 
be real or forceful. 

Yet they deny the reality of matter, as commonly de- 
fined, and by this denial undervalue a part of the normal 
action of the human spirit. They virtually admit that 
God compels us by our mental constitution to look upon 
the unreal as real. For, as a fact of experience, we know 
that those who believe inorganic matter to be lifeless, are 
as fully convinced of its reality as they are of the reality 
of any living being. It is just as impossible for a man 
to doubt the objective and real existence of the earth on 
which he stands, as it is for him to doubt the real exist- 
ence of the man with whom he is conversing or wrestling. 
The alternatives offered us by this philosophy are dis- 
tinct : either " things " are only modes of divine action in 
finite spirits, having no nucleus of reality in themselves, 
or they are beings of a low grade, having some degree of 

3 



34 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

mentality and self-hood. To each of these alternatives 
we object. To the idealistic theory, because it impeaches 
the veracity of God. For it represents Him as producing 
illusions in the minds of men ; of so acting in their 
minds as to convince them of the existence of material 
objects which are independent of their cognition, when 
no such objects exist. The world which they are made 
by Him to see and feel, is all in their mind's eye ; it is a 
dream-world, having no existence outside of their thought. 
God so acts that they must believe a lie ; so acts that the 
common-sense of mankind always misinterprets that 
action, and the keenest philosopher rarely speaks of it 
without doing the same. The rock-ribbed mountain is an 
illusion. You may weary yourself in climbing to its 
summit, you may spend millions in putting a tunnel 
through it, you may find the fossil remains of extinct 
races in its ledges or caverns, you may read inscriptions 
concerning it on ancient monuments, and be convinced 
that it is older than the pyramids, older than humanity 
itself; but all is of no force; the bare and rocky summit, 
the dark and solid interior, the curious and eloquent 
fossils, the monumental records, nay, the engines and 
trucks, the drills and bars, the powder and dynamite, 
which seem to have been used, together with your bones 
and muscles, your blood and brain, your eyes and hands, 
your feet and staff, with which you climbed or delved, are 
all unsubstantial, " the baseless fabric of a dream." Not 
one of them has any real existence out of your own mind. 
They are merely imagery, produced in your mind by the 
action of God. Any one can judge for himself whether 
so profound a difference between the actually real and 
that which we are made to believe real, is compatible 
with any high conception of divine wisdom or veracity. 



THE RELATION OF GOD TO NATURE. 35 

There is great force also in the remark of Lotze that 
" the permanent and tangible difference between thoughts 
and things will ever consist in this, that the contents of 
thought, both when differing and when similar, may be 
put in opposition without having any effect upon one 
another ; things, on the other hand, are disturbed by one 
another and offer resistance " (p. 632). Thus in two 
respects " things " as apprehended by us, differ from 
thoughts : they are recognized as being independent of 
our knowledge of them, and as acting upon one another in 
such a way as to produce a greater or less change in their 
state ; while our thoughts are recognized as dependent on 
our mental action, and as often abiding unchanged by a 
conflict with one another. 

The idealistic theory is also unsatisfactory, because it 
deprives one of nearly all the evidence which he can 
have of the existence of any spiritual beings except him- 
self and God. He is directly conscious of his own men- 
tal action and being, but everything which seems to be 
objective may be due, according to this hypothesis, to the 
action of God in his mind. For he is made aware of the 
existence and action of his fellow-men by sight, hearing, 
or touch, just as he is made aware of the existence of a 
rock or tree or animal by these senses. And if the 
action of God in his spirit gives him a delusive percep- 
tion of the mineral, the plant, the animal, it is hard to se3 
why that action should not also be supposed to give him 
a delusive perception of a human face or voice. The 
only difference which occurs to me must spring from 
an element of sin in the conduct of a fellow-man, proving 
that he cannot be a divine picture in the mind ; and the 
result would be that our rational confidence in the exist- 
ence of any fellow-man would rest, in the last analysis, 
upon sin. But the subtlety of human thought would 



36 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

doubtless soon dispose of sin as simply a means of moral 
discipline, or of coming to a knowledge of righteousness. 
In fact, this appears to be done by Professor Schurman in 
a passage which will be quoted later on. 

To the other alternative, namely, that atoms, molecules, 
and masses are all living beings, each of them having 
some degree of mentality and self-hood, two objections 
may be offered. First, there is no evidence of their in- 
telligence and self-hood. They do not pass through the 
changes of vegetable or animal existence. They do not 
grow from within. The diamond remains the same from 
age to age ; or if there is any variation in its form or 
weight, it is owing to collision with external forces. In a 
word, chemical and vital agents are wholly different from 
each other. Says Lotze : " To the nature of mind, of the 
ego that apprehends itself, that is passive in feeling and 
active in willing, and that is one in remembrance in which 
it brings past experiences together, we can point as to a 
similitude of that which is the nature of things endowed 
with realness " (p. 647) ; yet he insists that though this 
is the highest stage of mentality, the latter is not neces- 
sarily "absent in the being which, though far removed 
from the clearness of such self-consciousness, in some 
duller form of feeling exists for itself and enjoys its 
existence " (p. 646). And finally he says : " We shall be 
satisfied to have it granted to us that at any rate there is 
in mind the nature of a real being, although the nature 
of things may not be made perfectly clear to us by the 
analogy of mental existence, but only imperfectly and 
figuratively illustrated by it " (p. 648). It is easy to see 
that by the study of human consciousness we are not 
made acquainted with the nature of " things." The two 
are heterogeneous, not homogeneous. 

We also object to this alternative, because organic life 



THE RELATION OF GOD TO NATURE. 37 

is impossible at the highest temperatures. The experi- 
ments of Professor Tyndall, by which he tested the theory 
of the genesis of life from matter, depended for their 
success on the destruction of organic life in a certain 
quantity of material substance. He believed that all 
life-germs were destroyed by the process which was 
adopted, and physical scientists do not question the cor- 
rectness of his belief. But if mentality pertains to life, 
and if matter exists in certain conditions without life, we 
must hold that it exists without mentality or self-hood. 
Let not the miner who bores deep into the solid rock, 
that he may rend and convulse it by the force of dyna- 
mite, shrink from his task through fear of lacerating one 
living being by the death-struggles of another. The 
dynamite and rock are insensible to pain. 

III. They teach that God is immanent in nature, and 
nature in God. 

To neither of these statements, properly explained, has 
a Christian any reason to object. For to him " God is 
above all, and through all, and in all," while it is equally 
true that " we live and move and are in Him." But the 
Christian understands that these sublime descriptions of 
God under local or spatial imagery represent Him as 
transcendent no less than immanent. For that in which 
"we live and move and are" is naturally greater than 
ourselves ; and that which is " above all " must transcend 
that which it is above. But though intelligent Christians 
believe that in some true and very important sense God 
is immanent in nature and nature immanent in God, they 
do not conceive of this immanence as it is described by 
Lotze and Schurman. For Lotze remarks that " the sub- 
stantial Ground of the world is a Spirit . . . essentially 
living and good. All that is finite is action of this In- 



38 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

finite. { Eeal beings ' are those of His actions which the 
Infinite maintains permanently as centres of out-and-in- 
going effects, that is, as capable of acting and of being 
affected ; and their reality, the relative independence 
which belongs to them, consists only in this, that as 
spiritual elements they have being for self" (Outlines of 
Metaphysics, pp. 154-5). Again he says that "all which 
exists is but One Infinite Being which stamps upon indi- 
vidual things in fitting forms its own ever-similar and iden- 
tical nature. Only on the assumption of this substantial 
unity is that intelligible which we call the reciprocal 
action of different things, and which in truth is always 
the reciprocal action of the different states of one and the 
same thing " (Microcosmos, vol. ii. p. 601). In another 
passage he writes as follows : " Not the empty shadow of 
an order of nature, but only the full reality of an infinite 
living Being, of whom all finite things are inwardly cher- 
ished parts, has power so to knit together the multiplicity 
of the universe that reciprocal actions shall make their 
way across the chasm that would eternally divide the 
several distinct elements from one another. For action, 
starting from one being, is not lost in an abyss of nothing 
between it and another ; but as in all being the truly 
existent is one and the same, so in all reciprocal action 
the Infinite acts only on itself, and its activity never quits 
the sure foundation of being " (Microcosmos, p. 380). 

In like manner Professor Schurman says : " We must 
state explicitly our belief in the existence of one absolute 
spirit, of which all finite beings are the functions or mem- 
bers " (p. 208). Again ; " Spiritual things . . . exist at once 
in God and for themselves. . . . They know themselves as 
one amid a multiplicity of states which they recognize as 
their own, and they know themselves as freely initiating 



THE RELATION OF GOD TO NATURE. 39 

action on a scene where all other actions are determined 
issues of antecedent conditions. How beings can be self- 
contained persons and at the same time elements of the 
divine life, we can never perhaps precisely understand. 
But the immanence of all that exists in God is a result of 
philosophical analysis that can lead to no other conclusion " 
(p. 225). In another passage he affirms that God "is the 
universal life in which individual activities are included 
as moments of a single organism" (p. 161). He also 
agrees with Lotze in justifying this view by saying that it 
helps us to understand the influence of beings or things 
upon other beings or things. Thus : " How causal action 
is produced, how it comes about that the realization of a 
certain condition effaces one state and superinduces an- 
other in the real world, no philosophy can pretend to 
explain. But given this indisputable fact, then it may 
be thinkable from one point of view and unthinkable 
from another Now that the occurrence of something 
should be the condition of the occurrence of something 
else, we readily admit so long as both states fall within 
the unity of a single being. But that a state of one 
being should be the condition of the state of another 
separate and independent being is little less than contra- 
dictory. The former operation we call immanent, the 
latter transeunt" (p. 165). 

We have directed attention to the fact that Holy Scrip- 
ture represents God as transcendent, no less than imma- 
nent, and that this view has been acceptable hitherto to 
thoughtful Christians. But it is called in question by 
Lotze and Schurman. Thus the German philosopher says 
in respect to the world : " From the first the variety of 
the elements will form a complete system that, grasped 
in its totality, offers an expression of the whole nature of 



40 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

the One. . . . The cause, in the act of creation, would 
send forth from itself no single finite element, without at 
the same time adding thereto a fixed number of others, 
which taken along with the former should make actual 
existence its complete manifestation" (vol. i. p. 446). 
" Nature as a whole can neither stand still nor cease to 
correspond to the meaning of the One, of which all its 
active elements are but dependent emanations " (Ibid.). 
" To us the elements of the actual universe are not dead 
and rigid, not selfless and void points of attachment for 
unalterable forces. . . . They are to us, on the contrary, 
living parts of the living One, at every moment not 
merely in myriad relations to one another, but further 
affected by those relations " (vol. i. p. 450). 

And the American philosopher writes : " It is of the 
essence of spirit to express itself. And just because God 
is spirit, the world is his constant expression. Creation 
is the eternal self -revelation of God" (p. 139). Again: 
" The world ... is the expression of an ever-active and 
inexhaustible will. Furthermore, that the external mani- 
festation is as boundless as the life it expresses, science 
makes exceedingly probable. In any event, we have not 
the slightest reason to contrast the finitude of the world 
with the infinitude of God" (p. 173). "If the natural 
order is eternal and infinite, as there seems no reason to 
doubt, it will be difficult to find a meaning for ' beyond ' 
or ' before.' Of this illimitable, ever-existing universe 
God is the inner ground and substance. . . . There is 
no evidence, nor does any religious need require us to 
believe, that the divine being manifest in the universe 
has any actual or possible existence somewhere else, in 
some transcendent sphere" (p. 175). "The divine will 
can express itself only as it does, because no other ex- 



THE RELATION OF GOD TO NATURE. 41 

pression would reveal what it is. Of such a will, the 
eternal universe is the eternal expression" (p. 178). 
On these extracts we remark : — 

1. Professor Schurman's dictum, that " it is of the 
essence of spirit to express itself " is neither a self-evident 
truth, nor is it supported by him with argument. For the 
words, " express itself," appear to be used with reference 
to external manifestation ; and even if it were certain 
that the essence of spirit tends to reveal itself by some 
kind of action, how do we know that it must do this by 
an organism or outward form ? It seems to us rash 
philosophy to assert that beings purely spiritual cannot 
interchange thoughts and feelings, — that a spirit must 
externalize itself in order to commune with other spirits. 

2. The hypothesis that causal action can only take 
place in the states of one and the same being, is not 
tenable. Yet on this, more than on any other principle, 
do these philosophers rely for proof that nature is in God 
and God in nature. And they win favor to their view, 
first, by assuming that the only different view looks upon 
every finite being as independent of every other ; and 
secondly, by assuming that no energy can pass through 
the nothingness of empty space. 

But in answer to the first assumption we say, that the 
hypothesis of creation does not assert or imply that 
every being in the world is independent of every other 
being. It rather supposes that all things created are 
connected with God and with one another, forming a 
cosmos rather than a chaos ; though even the elements 
of a chaos might presumably be related to one another. 
For this misinterpretation of the common view no satis- 
factory account is given, but it imparts to their assertions 
nearly all the force which they have. And in reply to 



42 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

the second assumption we remark that the nothingness of 
mere space can be no barrier to the passage of energy. 
It is absurd to insist that a substance in motion would be 
arrested or turned from its course by a vacuum, and equally 
absurd to affirm, on a priori grounds, that every kind of 
energy or substance in motion must have a physical 
conductor in order to pass from point to point. If force 
can leap across an inch-wide chasm, who can deny the 
possibility of its leaping from the earth to the sun ? And 
whatever may be said of physical force, who knows that 
the action of spirit needs a bridge on which to pass 
through space from one object to another ? In reading 
the passages of Lotze, we are reminded of Milton's Satan 
in chaos : — 

" At last his sail-broad vans 
He spreads for flight, and in the surging smoke 
Uplifted spurns the ground ; thence many a league 
As in a cloudy chair ascending rides 
Audacious ; but, that seat soon failing, meets 
A vast vacuity : all unawares 
Flutt'ring his pennons vain plumb down he drops 
Ten thousand fathom deep, and to this hour 
Down had been falling, had not by ill chance 
The strong rebuff of some tumultuous cloud 
Instinct with fire and nitre hurried him 
As many miles aloft. 1 

Now this passage is magnificent poetry, but it is neither 
science nor philosophy, and the same may be said of 
Lotze's assumption that causal energy cannot traverse 
empty space. 

This view may perhaps involve another which is not 

formally stated, namely, that a being can only act where 

it is ; though we fail to discover any surer grounds for the 

latter view than for the former. " Real beings " are de- 

1 Paradise Lost, II. 1. 927 f. 



THE RELATION OF GOD TO NATURE. 43 

fined by Lotze as "centres of out-and-in-going effects," 
that is, as " capable of acting and being affected." The cir- 
cumstance that he regards these centres as " permanently 
maintained actions " of God, does not conflict with their 
being centres of out-going effects. And if they are centres 
of out-going effects, are they not ipso facto centres of 
causal force, of out-going energy ? Can we think of any- 
thing which deserves the name of real being that is not, 
at least, a nucleus or centre of force which, as radiated 
from it, is called energy or action ? Our conclusion, then, 
is that a being can only act within a sphere every part 
of which its energy can reach, and we have no means 
of knowing that its action is always dependent on a me- 
dium or support of any kind. 

3. But no feature of the philosophy in question is 
more surprising than the confidence with which one 
mystery lis accepted and another rejected. Thus: "How 
a cause begins to produce its immediate effect, how a 
condition is the foundation of its direct result, it will 
never be possible to say." Yet, " only of finite individ- 
uals, being at the same time merely parts of one single 
Infinite substance, ... is their reciprocal action, or 
what we call such, possible" (p. 598); not "intelligible," 
let the reader observe, but " possible," is the term used. 
In other words, " we believe causal action to be real 
though inscrutable, but we cannot believe that it is 
able to traverse a vacuum," for "a vacuum is a gulf 
that can never be filled up, across which no connection 
can reach" (p. 599). How is this fact known? Has 
any one proved that attraction does not act through a 
vacuum ? that a stone or even a feather does not fall 
to the bottom of an exhausted receiver? Space is a 
bugbear to these philosophers. In the first place, it is 



44 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

an illusion ; in the second place, it is an impassable 
gulf. What we would say is this : If causal action 
itself is mysterious, incomprehensible, do not under- 
take to show "how the universe must be constituted 
to make it possible " (Schurman). We may perhaps 
learn by observation the conditions under which it 
operates, but not the inner nature of those conditions 
as related to the energy in question ; for that would 
imply a knowledge of the nature of the inscrutable 
energy itself. The most we can affirm is this, that 
some relation exists between the source of the efficiency 
and the object affected. And this is fully conceded by 
every intelligent theist. But to assert that the changes 
wrought by causal energy mast be changes in the states 
of one and the same personal being, is to affirm without 
evidence what is opposed to all our experience. Our 
surest knowledge of personal being relates first to our- 
selves, and next to our fellow-men. And though we 
are conscious of being variously related to our fellow- 
men, and of being influenced by them, we are not 
conscious- that our personal being includes in itself 
theirs, or that their personal being includes in itself 
ours If a man thrusts a knife into my body, the 
wound and pain do not affect his consciousness as they 
do mine. I may suffer and die while he remains as 
strong as before. Or if a neighbor calls me a liar, he 
does not ordinarily feel what I feel, or what he would 
feel, if the tables were turned. That we can change 
the conscious states of each other is a fact, though 
mysterious, and it seems to me a weak philosophy that 
insists on explaining it by supposing, against the testi- 
mony of consciousness, that we are only one personal 
being. Even more unwarranted does such speculation 



THE RELATION OF GOD TO NATURE. 45 

appear, when this hypothesis does not, confessedly, ex- 
plain the mystery of causation, but merely serves to 
make it seem a little less dark and deep ; just as the 
impact of two bodies makes the reality of some energy 
or motion passing from one to the other seem less 
unaccountable than it would seem if they were miles 
apart, 

4. The assumption that nature expresses and reveals 
the whole being of God, does not inspire confidence. 
Especially true is this if it means, as we suppose, that 
the whole divine substance is revealed by the world 
at each and every stage of its existence. For both 
these writers concede that nature is subject to evolu- 
tions and dissolutions. How then can it always reveal 
the fulness of God ? How can it, in a state of disso- 
lution, without any of the higher forms of life, or even 
the simplest vital germs, express order, intelligence, 
vigor, freedom ? How can finite and mutable things 
reveal the Infinite and Immutable One ? And even if 
these writers mean that the whole being of God is 
revealed by nature, because nature exists eternally and 
is filled in all its varied forms by God, the timeless 
One, their assumption is only plausible ; for it is diffi- 
cult to believe that an infinite Being can be fully 
revealed in the totality of nature from first to last. 
From a metaphysical point of view, an infinite substance 
cannot be resolved into parts however numerous. From 
a moral point of view, infinite love can never be com- 
pletely represented by finite love, though raised to the 
highest possible degree in numberless souls. From an 
intellectual point of view, an infinite mind cannot be 
wholly revealed by finite minds, however numerous. 
Professor Schurman says : " To ask if the atoms took coun- 



46 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

sel together and formed the world, is an absurd question, 
for it supposes atoms existing apart from intelligence " 
(p. 156). By no means; it supposes every one of them 
to possess a minimum of intelligence. But it is impos- 
sible to see how this minimum of intelligence is to be so 
united with all the other minima of the same thing in 
finite beings as to reveal the whole mind of God, — his 
unlimited knowledge. So long as the atoms and all 
other beings that reveal God continue to possess self- 
hood, and are every one of them limited in knowledge, 
they will offer but a partial revelation of God. In other 
words, God has never been and can never be fully revealed 
to finite beings. He will always be greater and better 
than any or all of his works. If we could know him 
perfectly, we should know ourselves to be his equals in 
knowledge, if not in power or goodness, and one of the 
best grounds for reverence and one of the deepest foun- 
tains of joy would be lost to our experience. Only an 
infinite God is forever adorable. We must therefore be- 
lieve in the transcendence as well as the immanence of 
God. 

Besides all this, if nature fully and truly expresses the 
being of God, there can be no overplus of expression. It 
cannot safely be said to reveal anything besides that be- 
ing ; much less can it be thought to set forth anything 
opposed to that being. Yet there is sin in the world, 
and it appears in the conduct of the highest " centres of 
out-and-in-going effects," — in human souls, which are ever- 
more . actions of God, all their power of action being his 
will working with sole efficiency that which they attribute 
to themselves. How can this ugly fact of sin be recon- 
ciled with the hypothesis of this philosophy ? To hold 
that human souls are elements of the divine life is to add 



THE RELATION OF GOD TO NATURE. 47 

a serious difficulty to the solution of the darkest problem 
known to us, that of our moral freedom and accountability. 
If sinful souls are elements of the divine life, it will be 
hard to show that sin is not radically good, a part of the 
eternal fitness and order. For the more closely we iden- 
tify a finite spirit with the very life of God, the more 
necessary it will be to think of them as morally alike, 
and to say that if one is bad so is the other, and if one 
is good so is the other. On the other hand, the greater we 
make the relative independence of a finite being, the less 
difficult w T ill it be for us to think of that being as self-con- 
trolled and responsible. We find the moral w^orld to be 
much less perplexing, if God is the creator of real second 
causes., than we find it if he is simply their Ground, — 
they being only partial currents of his never-ending life. 

The following paragraph in Professor Schurman's work 
gives the substance of what he says about sin. "Nor 
is the problem of sin altogether insoluble from the point 
of view of the theism here advanced. At least, we can 
understand how it originates, and conjecture the function 
it serves. That the possibility of sin is the correlative of 
the free initiative God has vacated on man's behalf, is 
an old and not unsatisfactory explanation of its origin. 
Now the essence of sin, as mystics have always felt, is 
the enthronement of self. It is selfishness, self-isolation. 
Yet without such self-absorption there could be no sense 
of union with God. For consciousness is possible only 
through opposition. To know A we must know it through 
not - A. Alienation from God is the necessary condition 
of communion with God. And this is the meaning of the 
Scripture that ' where sin abounded grace shall much 
more abound.' " We find it impossible to accept either 
the philosophy or the interpretation of this paragraph. 



48 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

With this passage may be compared two others in which 
he refers to the moral ideal, thus : "Modern culture pro- 
tests against the puritan enthronement of goodness above 
truth and beauty. It regards them as co-equal sister- 
graces, divine forms that haunt the mind of man and 
stimulate him to the realization of something absolutely 
worthful. For the Decalogue it would substitute the 
wider new commandment of Goethe : Live resolutely in 
the Whole, in the Good, in the Beautiful " (pp. 332- 
333). And in another place he adopts this view as his 
own : " The highest religion can be content with noth- 
ing short of the synthesis demanded by Goethe. And 
I expect it to emerge from the mutual attraction exer- 
cised upon each other by ecclesiastical Christianity and 
secular science " (p. 254). 

Professor Lotze has apparently a much deeper sense of 
the evil of sin, and therefore admits that there is " a decisive 
and insurmountable difficulty which stands in the way of 
carrying out [his philosophic faith] scientifically, — that is 
. . . the existence of evil and of sin in Nature and History. 
It would be quite useless to analyse the various attempts 
that have been made to solve this problem. No one has 
here found the thought that would save us from our diffi- 
culty, and I, too, know it not. . . . He who justifies evil 
as a means of divine education, ignores the suffering of 
the inferior animals and all the incomprehensible stunting 
of the life of man which we see in history, and limits the 
omnipotence of God ; for evil is only used as a means of 
education because there is no other means. And, finally, 
we are not satisfied with the view of Leibnitz, who in 
every case of irreconcilable difference between the omnip- 
otence of God and his goodness believed himself bound to 
decide for the latter, and to explain evil by reference to 



THE RELATION OF GOD TO NATURE. 49 

the limits imposed by the primeval necessity of the eternal 
truths even upon the free creative activity of God. • For 
of all imaginable assertions the most indemonstrable is 
that the evil of the world is due to the validity of eternal 
truth ; on the contrary, to any unprejudiced view of 
nature it appears to depend upon the definite arrange- 
ments of reality, beside which other arrangements are 
thinkable, also based upon the same eternal truth. If there 
were retained the separation . . . between necessary laws 
and the creative activity of God, in our view evil would 
undoubtedly belong not to that which must be, but to 
that which is freely created. Let us therefore alter a 
little the canon of Leibnitz, and say that where there 
appears to be an irreconcilable contradiction between the 
omnipotence and the goodness of God, there our finite 
wisdom has come to the end of its tether, and that we do 
not understand the solution which yet we believe in " 
(vol. ii. pp. 716-17). 

It must be seen that, in the presence of this philosophy, 
the problem of moral evil either vanishes out of sight, 
because God is the prime mover in all action and there- 
fore sin must be an illusion, or else it becomes more 
intensely dark and perplexing, because wrath, strife, and 
sin are found to exist in the very life of God. For in 
principle this philosophy is pantheistic. We speak simply 
of the philosophy, not of the distinguished men whose 
words we have used in describing it. For neither Lotze 
nor Schurman claims to be a pantheist, in the ordinary 
sense of the word. Both of them assert the personality 
of God, and distinguish that personality from the innu- 
merable conscious beings embraced in its life. But such 
a statement as the following, on page 161 of " Belief in 

God " : " God is the universal life in which individual 

4 



50 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

activities are included as moments of a single organism," 
leads one to think that no injustice is done to Professor 
Schurman by calling his view of the universe pantheistic. 
The tendency of mere logical thinking is always toward 
materialism or pantheism, — toward a monistic view of 
the universe. And the only real safeguard against these 
extremes is a belief in God as the personal Creator and 
at the same time as the perpetual Ground of all things. 
The fact of his immanence in nature when divorced from 
the fact of his creatorship leads to far more serious diffi- 
culties than it removes. Some of these it has been our 
object to state as briefly and clearly as possible in the 
preceding pages. 

5. The bearing of what the Scriptures say in respect to 
the relation of God to nature and of nature to God 
deserves notice in a discussion of the present subject ; 
but our reference to their language must be brief. They 
contain many sentences which, taken alone, favor a pan- 
theistic view of the universe. They affirm the presence 
of God in all things. They affirm the dependence of all 
things upon God, and sometimes the existence of all 
things in him. And they represent every living thing as 
encompassed and sustained by him. This truth has not 
been overlooked by Christian teachers. It is no new 
doctrine, growing out of philosophic speculation. In 
teaching the omnipresence of God theologians have en- 
deavored to show the meaning of all such expressions, — 
the intimate and perpetual union between God and nature. 
Whether they have done this in the most philosophic or 
effective manner may be a question ; but there can be no 
question about their recognition of all such passages as 
the 139th Psalm, and their assertion of the perpetual 
activity of God in upholding all worlds and caring for 



THE RELATION OF GOD TO NATURE. 51 

every living thing. But the Scriptures also teach the 
existence of a world of things, animate and inanimate, in 
distinction from God. They represent men as prone to 
worship the creature instead of the Creator. They de- 
scribe them as sinners against God, worthy of death. 
And the aim of their language in a thousand passages is 
to persuade men to return to the service of God and to 
personal followship with him. Men are treated as moral 
agents, possessed of power to do the will of God or disobey 
it. And so pervading is this representation as to justify 
the opinion that the sacred writers no more thought of 
men as being literally parts of God, than they thought 
of children as being parts of their parents or subjects as 
being parts of their king. 

Moreover, the Scriptures, taken in their most obvious 
sense, speak of God as the Author or Creator of all things. 
For example, in the prologue of John's Gospel: "All 
things were made through him, and without him was not 
one thing made that has been made." For the verb 
employed — yivo\xai — is more naturally understood of 
things themselves, including substance and form, than of 
the mere shaping and ordering of things in nature, or of 
any states in the divine spirit, however conscious and 
real they may be. So the passage in the Epistle to the 
Hebrews ; " By faith we understand that the worlds were 
framed by the word of God, so that what is seen has not 
been made out of things which appear," teaches that the 
visible universe has not been made — ou yeyovivai — out 
of pre-existing materials, but rather by a divine and 
invisible power, the word of God. 

Turning now to the second hypothesis referred to at 
the beginning of this paper, it may be briefly represented 
as follows. According to the tradition received from our 



52 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

Christian fathers, nature or the world was created, that is, 
brought into being, by the will of God. It is eternal 
neither in substance nor in form. It is an effect of which 
God is the cause, rather than a body of which God is the 
soul. Moreover, every part of it is dependent on the will 
of God for its continuance in being, and the same is true 
of the sum-total of its forces, whether organic or inorganic. 
Still further : As nature is a cosmos, every part is related 
to every other part, and in a qualified sense dependent on 
it. Sun and planets, it may be said, are dependent upon 
one another, so that a change in either affects in some 
degree the condition of all the rest. To affirm their 
dependence as a whole upon God is consistent with the 
hypothesis that they are linked together by invisible ties 
in a single system, the parts of which are truly interde- 
pendent. God works through second causes or means, 
and some of these second causes may do his will without 
choice or consciousness, while others do it voluntarily. 
I suppose this to be a brief but accurate statement of 
Christian belief as entertained by a great majority of 
intelligent men for centuries past concerning the relation 
of God to nature. But several expressions in this state- 
ment call for elucidation. 

For instance, why is it believed that every part of nature 
is dependent on God for continued existence ? Against 
this belief two arguments have been alleged, first, that 
God's creative work must have been perfect, like himself, 
and secondly, that the conservation of force proves nature 
to be independent of God, Both these arguments are 
fallacious. For to infer the perfection of nature from 
the perfection of God, its author, is to reason from the 
infinite to the finite, from a premise which we know but 
in part to a conclusion which we fancy ourselves to compre- 



THE RELATION OF GOD TO NATURE. 53 

hend, but do not. A little reflection should convince us that 
a progressive world may be better suited to the training of 
finite moral beings than a world finished at a stroke and 
incapable of improvement. Besides, all that we know of 
the world proves it to be composed of beings or things 
subject to a law of improvement; first the stalk, then the 
ear, then the full corn in the ear. Again, if the conser- 
vation of force amid all its changes of form is a scientific 
fact, that fact determines nothing as to what is the con- 
servative principle in that force. For the fact, which is 
all we know, if indeed we are certain of that, may be ac- 
counted for, either by supposing force to have been created 
self-sustaining and independent, or by supposing that God 
by his constant unseen energy contributes to its perpetuity, 
Which of these suppositions best agrees with the notion 
of a living and morally perfect God must be decided by 
philosophy and religion, rather than by the science of 
chemistry. Certainly the latter hypothesis brings God 
into more intimate and loving relation to the world ; and 
it is the one which Christians have almost always heartily 
accepted. Not only is it philosophically as tenable as the 
other, but it recognizes a more practical relation of God to 
nature, a more perfect unity in diversity binding together 
all things, divine and human, and a more obvious inter- 
pretation of numerous passages of Scripture which speak 
of God as being in all things and of all things as being in 
God. The view which we defend rejects deism on the one 
hand and pantheism on the other; but asserts a constant 
relation of God to every part of nature, and of every part 
of nature to God. In particular, it asserts the dependence 
of nature upon God for the continuance as well as for the 
origin of its powers. 

But is it possible to define more exactly this depen- 



54 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

dence ? Perhaps not ; for the sustaining action of God is 
no less inscrutable than his creative action. Indeed, all 
action is a mystery. The fact and the result of it we may 
know, but very little of the inner process. Confronted by 
this mystery, every thoughtful man is ready to repeat the 
Apostle's admission : " Now I know in part," and some- 
times the part known is felt to be infinitesimal. Who 
has solved the problem of free-will in either God or man ? 
Who has shown that volition is identical with physical 
energy, or has been able to bridge the chasm between 
the two ? The answer, as we have said before, must be, 
No one. And if volition merely releases physical energy, 
who can tell how this is done, or how it is possible for it 
to be done ? Who can explain why the amount of energy 
released by an act of will, seems to be often, but not al- 
ways, proportioned to the intensity of that act ? The cir- 
cumstance that we gain the notion of causal force or 
energy through volition and the conscious physical effort 
which follows volition, is no evidence that volition and 
physical effort are both one, and no explanation of the in- 
fluence of one on the other. " As a physiologist," says Dr. 
Carpenter, " I must fully recognize the fact that the phys- 
ical force exerted by the body of man is not generated 
de novo by his will, but is derived directly from the oxi- 
dation of the constituents of his food. But holding it as 
equally certain, because the fact is capable of verification 
by every one as often as he chooses to make the experi- 
ment, that in the performance of every volitional move- 
ment physical force is put in action, directed and 
controlled by the individual personality or ego, I deem it 
as absurd and illogical to affirm that there is no place for a 
God in nature, originating, directing, and controlling its 
forces by His will, as it would be to assert that there is 



THE RELATION OF GOD TO NATURE. 55 

no place in man's body for his conscious mind" (Modern 
Ideas of Evolution, by Sir J. AY. Dawson, p. 123). Nor does 
the fact that the will loses its influence over the move- 
ment of hand or foot when the nerve-strands between 
the brain and these organs are severed, clear up the ob- 
scurity at all. From mind to brain, and from brain to 
muscle, all is mystery. We know the fact that by an 
effort of will one can raise his hand, weighted with a 
club, and can hold it aloft for a considerable time by a 
continued volition ; for we have all had experience of 
this fact, and we know also that in an important sense, 
he upholds the club as truly as he does his arm by act of 
will. But this is nearly all we know that bears upon the 
question concerning God's present relation to nature. Sup- 
pose now that the union of chemical and vital parts in the 
arm were equally clue to God's constant volition, the arm 
would still be a real organ, though more dependent on 
the action of will than it is commonly thought to be. 
Or suppose that the ultimate atoms and the life principle 
itself, belonging to that arm, have constant divine sup- 
port, concurring with their own energy, to keep them in 
being, they would still be essential constituents of the arm, 
though dependent for the continuance of their real being 
on a higher power. So nature in all its parts and forces 
is believed to be upheld by the power of God, as truly 
as the eagle on highest wing is upheld by the unseen 
air which invigorates it within and sustains it beneath. 
Especially important is it to shun the extreme of deism 
which looks on the world once created as sufficient to it- 
self, having all the forces* and conditions needed for the 
achievement of its purpose, and the extreme of panthe- 
ism, which ascribes all energy to God and tends to deny 
all reality to matter. For the deistic hypothesis removes 



56 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

God too far from human hearts and lives, while the pan- 
theistic swallows up the reality of " things " and the moral 
freedom of man in the all-working energy of God. The 
truth which responds to the whole nature of man lies be- 
tween these opposite extremes, and no impulse of logical 
thought to reduce all things to one should close our eyes 
to the fact that the only unity we know in nature is, like 
that of the four Gospels, a unity in diversity. 



GOD AND THE UNIVEKSE. 

Of him, and through him, and unto him are all things. — Rom. xi. 36. 

[^HE words of this sentence are few and short. We 
-*- utter them in a breath. Twelve syllables only ! 
Yet they contain truth so deep and sacred that we listen 
to it with awe. For they assert in simple terms that all 
things created, whether great or small, living or lifeless, 
seen or unseen, on earth or in heaven, are bound to God 
by a threefold tie, — of origin, of control, and of destina- 
tion. God is the first cause of their being, God is the 
power by which they are preserved and controlled, and 
God is the chief end of their existence. In so far as they 
are endowed with moral power they are made " to glorify 
God and enjoy Him forever." 

Thus the universe in its relations to God is the theme 
of this wonderful sentence ; and the object of my remarks 
will be to fix your attention on the particulars certified 
by it, and chiefly on the last of these, — " unto Him are 
all things." For though God as the Author of our being, 
and the Providence that guides us in its use, can never 
be thought of with indifference, we turn to Him with 
greater solicitude as the Goal of our existence. We are 
made to look forward oftener than backward, to feel that 
there should be greater good in the issue than at the out- 
set. The beginning may be from God, but from God 



58 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

unrevealed and alone ; the end should be in God, but God 
revealed to a great multitude which no man can number, 
rejoicing in his joy. 

Notice, then, the first particular : — 

1. That all things are of God. That is, from Him as 
their first cause or source. They owe their existence to 
Him. He is their Creator. But I hasten to say that the 
act which we call creation is inscrutable. What we mean 
by the word is evident enough, but the possibility of such 
an effect of energy baffles conception. Experience makes 
us familiar with changes in the form and composition of 
material objects, and with actual creations in the domain 
of thought, but not with the proper origination of matter 
or force or spirit. Such an achievement of energy is too 
wonderful for us ; it is high, we cannot attain to it. That 
the sum of real being in the universe can be augmented 
or diminished is boldly denied by a certain school of 
philosophy. But the adherents of this school would do 
better to admit that our vision is dull, that we see through 
a glass darkly, that there are depths which human reason 
cannot sound and heights which it cannot scale. Good 
sense and modesty yield to the teaching of Christ, which 
avers that " things impossible with men are possible with 
God ; " and to the teaching of Job, " Lo, these are parts of 
his ways, — but the thunder of his power who can under- 
stand ? " God fully understood could not be rightly 
adored. In order to be thus adored He must be infinite, 
" yesterday, to-day, and forever." For a limited being 
cannot inspire absolute confidence ; yet the religious nature 
of man will never be satisfied with an object of worship 
in whom it does not absolutely confide. Well is it, there- 
fore, that the apostle can speak of God as " the blessed 
and only Potentate, the King of kings, and Lord of lords ; 



GOD AND THE UNIVERSE. 59 

who only hath immortality, dwelling in light unapproach- 
able ; whom no man hath seen, nor can see." 

We do not then hesitate to believe the Scriptures when 
they represent God as the creator of the universe. The 
first sentence which they contain affirms that "in the 
beginning God created the heavens and the earth ; " and 
after a few other sublime declarations comes the record of 
man's creation ; " So God created man in His own image ; 
in the ima^e of God created He him, male and female 
created He them." The opening message of the fourth 
Gospel repeats and expands the testimony of Genesis : 
" In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with 
God, and the Word was God. All things were made by 
Him, and without Him was not anything made that has 
been made." 

And the verb translated " made " signifies properly, 
" brought into being." Moreover, the Apostle Paul re- 
iterates the same truth; "For in Him were all things 
created, in the heavens and upon the earth, things visible 
and things invisible, whether thrones or dominions or 
principalities or powers ; all things have been created by 
Him and unto Him." 

Such language is simple and transparent. It cannot be 
misunderstood ; all things but God were brought into 
existence by a creative act. Every atom of matter, every 
sort of energy, every principle of life, every rational spirit, 
is from God, either directly or mediately. His being is 
the only self-existent and eternal being, His power the 
only original and limitless power, and His goodness the 
only underived and immutable goodness. The material 
universe is said to be composed of atoms so small that no 
human eye, assisted by the best microscope, has even seen 
one of them. Yet these atoms, drawn together by a 



60 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

mysterious force, form the steadfast mountain, the rolling 
earth, the solar system, the fixed stars, the far-off nebulae. 
And these infinitesimal atoms, with the all-pervading 
energy that binds them together in molecules and crystals, 
in planets and stars, in systems of worlds and the uni- 
versal world-system, were originated by the will of God. 
" He spake, and it was done ; He commanded and it stood 
fast." It matters not whether the forms which things 
now possess were given them at first by the hand of God, 
or were produced in process of time by elements and 
forces which He created. Yet a living writer has said : 
" It is a singular fact that when we can find out how any- 
thing is done, our first conclusion seems to be that God 
did not do it. No matter how wonderful, how beautiful, 
how intimately complex and delicate has been the ma- 
chinery which has worked perhaps for centuries, perhaps 
for millions of ages, to bring about some beneficent result, 
if we can but catch a glimpse of the wheels its divine 
character disappears." There is some ground for this 
complaint, but it is hardly applicable to the most thought- 
ful men. For they certainly perceive that energies are 
not accounted for by the work which they do, that human 
minds are not accounted for by saying that they think 
and feel and will, that no process of development in the 
natural world can show how that world came to be at all. 
To trace with delight the growth of a plant is not to dis- 
cover the original source of its life. To find that we must 
look up to God, "for of Him are all things." God is 
infinite being, undiminished by the act of originating other 
beings. God is infinite power, undiminished by the act 
of establishing other centres of power. God is infinite 
reason, undiminished by creating other rational beings. 
God is infinite love, undiminished by the highest activity 



GOD AND THE UNIVERSE. 61 

in imparting itself to others. Being, power, reason, good- 
will, are self-existent and immutable in Him. 

Notice, also, the second particular : — 

2. That all things are through Him. Yet we cannot 
be perfectly certain as to the meaning of this expression. 
It may refer to creation in the strictest sense, or to preser- 
vation and providence. If it refers to the work of crea- 
tion in a strict sense, it must signify that God was His 
own agent in creating the universe, that this stupendous 
miracle was wrought by His direct and simple energy. 
But if it refers to God's control of the world's progress 
and evolution in time, it may be associated with the 
Apostle's description of Him as one " who is above all 
and through all and in all." It means that through His 
unseen presence and support all things continue to be and 
to act, — that in Him all things consist, or abide in order 
and harmony. And this appears to be the most natural 
interpretation of the ckuse when looked at as inserted 
between the words " of Him " and " unto Him." Hence 
we take it to be the Apostle's doctrine that God's relation 
to "all things" is forever most intimate and necessary. 
" In Him we live and move and have our being." The 
mystery of life, growth, consciousness, depends upon him. 
The mystery of action, whether initiative and spontaneous, 
as in mind, or received and transmitted, as in matter, 
depends upon Him. And the mystery of persistence in 
the simplest kind of being is due, in the last analysis, to 
Him. For God is said to " uphold all things by the word 
of His power." And before this testimony of inspired 
men physical science is dumb. For that science deals only 
with phenomena, with manifestations, with changes in 
the realm of nature ; it does not penetrate or lay open the 
essence of things. What that really is which men call 



62 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

light, or electricity, or ether, or force, or matter, or niind, 
no page of science can reveal. How then can it discredit 
the word which pronounces every one of these dependent 
on God ? Its ultimate confession is always this, " I do 
not know." 

Nor can intuition or logical reasoning be said to 
impeach the testimony of holy Scripture as to the re- 
lation of God to the universe. We who reverence the 
Bible believe that all which it teaches on this subject 
is in profound agreement with the best results of philo- 
sophical inquiry. We believe that the order of events 
in the natural world is sustained by God, and that the 
life we live would cease forever without his presence. 
He incloses us as an atmosphere, and pervades us as 
vital warmth. The regularity and force of nature are 
signs of his steadfast will. We ought to think of him as 
revealed by gravitation, by cohesion, by crystallization, 
by the color of every cloud and shell, by the symmetry 
of every plant and animal, by the miracle of growth in 
every living thing, by the orderly sweep of the planets, 
the faithful return of the seasons, and the onward 
march of the human race. Yet it must be confessed 
that we often see the wheels of nature in their un- 
resting motion, some of them great and terrible, and 
some of them minute and beautiful, but miserably fail 
to discern the spirit that is in the wheels, — a spirit 
full of eyes, bright with intelligence and instinct with 
power. Too often we are like those of whom it is 
said, that " God is not in all their thoughts." If per- 
chance he is brought to mind by startling events, like 
an earthquake or whirlwind, he is seldom recognized 
as having any close connection with the simple occur- 
rences of daily life. 



GOD AND THE UNIVERSE. 63 

The still small voice of his common providence is 
rarely heard. The sun rises and sets, the seasons re- 
turn, the showers fall, the grass springs up, the trees 
blossom, the fruits ripen, and the harvest is gathered 
in, almost as if there were no God. And the same is 
true of everything that pertains to the preservation, 
discipline, and improvement of the complex nature 
which is given us. In body and spirit we are fearfully 
and wonderfully made. A thousand muscles and nerves, 
a thousand tubes and valves, a thousand currents and 
reservoirs are doing perpetual service in the body, or 
it would die. " Behold the birds of heaven, that they 
sow not, neither do they reap nor gather into barns ; 
and your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not of 
much more value than they ? " Our lives are planned by 
divine wisdom, environed and penetrated by holy love. 
It would be well for us to perceive the finger of God in 
everything good, and to bear in mind that what we 
sharply call natural evils, — for instance, toil and care, 
weariness and pain, shame and remorse, — are ordained 
for our moral discipline, and are conducive to our 
spiritual health. " Whom the Lord loveth, he chasten- 
eth." Especially ought we to believe with all the 
heart, that God is as truly active in regular as in ex- 
ceptional events, in common-place movements as in 
those which are uncommon and therefore surprising. 

So then we come to the third particular : — 

3. That all things are unto God. 

And our first inquiry is after the meaning of the ex- 
pression " unto him." It does not mean that all things 
are to be finally absorbed and lost in the divine being 
Particles of water rise from the ocean in vapor, then 
unite in clouds and traverse the upper air, then fall to 



64 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

the earth in showers of rain, and at last return in rivers 
to the restless deep from which they came. But it is not 
so with men. Their relation to God will be forever per- 
sonal, and their union with him voluntary. All of us 
who accept his grace may say with deep satisfaction : — 

tl He holds a myriad finer threads than gold, 
And strong as holy wishes, drawing us 
With delicate tension upward to himself." 

It is by free aspiration, devotion, and service that we 
enter the divine realm and dwell in the love of God. 
He often seems to us more inspiring than the air we 
breathe. No separating barrier of space divides him 
from our souls. At all events, it may be safely af- 
firmed that the end of our existence is not absorption 
of personality in God. We shall be in his power, in 
his holiness, in his love, but we shall be still ourselves, 
personal, conscious, active, and blessed. Our earthly " life 
may be even a vapor that appeareth for a little time 
and then vanisheth away," but we shall abide forever. Of 
this the apostle's description of the "holy city "is plenary 
evidence. For, according to his testimony, there " will be 
no night there ; and they need no candle, neither light of 
the sun ; for the Lord God giveth them light, and they 
will reign with him forever and ever." 

But if our separate personality is not to be lost in the 
infinite One, as drops of water are absorbed in the ocean, 
it is plain from the text that in some other way he must 
be the goal or object of our existence. And that way is 
pointed out with great clearness by Paul in his first letter 
to the Corinthians : " Whether therefore ye eat or drink, 
or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God." Words 
which may be compared with our Saviour's language re- 



GOD AND THE UNIVERSE. 65 

specting the Comforter's work : " He shall glorify me ; for 
he shall receive of mine, and shall show it unto you." 
To manifest the glory or perfection of God is therefore 
the chief end of our existence. To live in such a manner 
that his life shall be reflected in ours, that his character 
shall reappear, at least, faintly, in ours, that his holiness 
and love shall be recognized and declared by us, is to do 
that for which we are made. And so, in requiring us to 
glorify himself, God simply requires us to do what is 
absolutely right, and at the same time indispensable to 
our permanent welfare. Any lower aim could not have 
been placed before us, without making us content with a 
character unlike that of the First Good and the First 
Fair. 

But might he not have insisted upon our being right- 
eous and benevolent, without calling attention to him- 
self ? Possibly he might. But is there any reason why 
he should ? Are we not social beings, made to be in- 
fluenced by example ? And is not moral goodness always 
personal ? Has it any existence in air or water, in sun- 
light or gravitation, in empty space, or irrational life ? 
Can it be seen and loved, save in the life of a moral be- 
ing ? And if not, is it credible that a Creator, morally 
perfect, would not desire to have his rational offspring 
know this fact, and be similar in this respect to himself ? 
that he would not wish to have them approve and honor 
his own character, and thus become partakers, according 
to their capacity, of his well-being ? For " to glorify God 
and enjoy him forever " are inseparable in the life of the 
soul. And the enjoyment of God is fulness of joy ; it is 
sweet and elevating converse with a Being possessed of 
every virtue and grace which reason can admire or love 
adore. 

5 



66 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

But do not overlook this essential law, that happiness 
follows well-doing as a result, and does not stand out be- 
forehand in the mind as a principal motive to action. 
Say not in your hearts, " Let us seek happiness as the 
supreme good," for if you do this it will elude pursuit and 
disappoint hope. Only once, as far as we know, did Christ 
say, " It is more blessed to give than to receive," perhaps 
because a desire of personal advantage is in danger of be- 
coming so strong as to vitiate the purity of giving. But 
hundreds of times did he appeal to duty, gratitude, and 
love, to the law, the character, and the grace of. God, as 
motives to holy action. And he distinctly affirmed that 
his own life was consecrated to God and ruled by his 
will. 

Kest, then, without fear in the assurance that God is 
worthy of supreme devotion. It is intensely rational, as 
well as blissful, to love and obey him with all the heart, 
and to persuade others to do the same. If the Maker and 
Friend of men were utterly indifferent to his own claims, 
and were simply intent upon achieving the highest good 
of his creatures, he would none the less offer himself to 
their hearts as the ultimate object of regard. For it would 
be none the less a fact that living to his glory is abso- 
lutely right, and living to any lower end as though it 
were supreme is sinful. 

God is the centre as well as the source of the moral 
world. You will therefore do well to give him the first 
place in every plan and service. While the centrifugal 
impulse of sinful habit tends to bear you away from him, 
let the centripetal energy of his love and the sacred 
authority of his law draw you towards him. Let the eye 
of your spirit be always searching for him, and it will not 
search in vain, for he is not far from any one of us. 



GOD AND THE UNIVERSE. 67 

" Religion," said Daniel Webster, " is the tie that con- 
nects man with his Creator, and holds him to the throne. 
It is a necessary and indispensable element in every great 
human character, If that tie be all sundered, all broken, 
he floats, away a worthless atom in the universe ; its 
proper attractions all gone, its destiny thwarted, and its 
whole future nothing but darkness, desolation, and death. 
A man with no sense of religious duty is he whom the 
Scriptures describe, in such terse but terrific language, as 
living ' without God in the world.' " This is the judgment 
of an imperial mind as to " the tie which connects man 
with his Creator." And we cannot doubt for a moment 
that he would have assented to the statement that the 
man whose soul cleaves to God — " him first, him last, 
him midst, and without end" — will be certain to live in 
light and hope. With his eye directed toward the one 
pure and perfect being, every step in advance will bring 
him nearer that being, the soul of all things good, I shall 
never lose the impression once made upon my heart by 
the theme of a great scholastic treatise, — Be Motu ad 
Deum, or " On Movement toward God," as the inmost 
reality of Christian life or duty. The hymn which begins 
with the words, " Nearer, my God, to thee," does little 
more than repeat in verse the theme of that treatise. In 
a sense recognized by us all, God is sufficient unto him- 
self, and therefore has no need of man's love ; but in no 
conceivable sense can it be said that man has no need of 
love to God. For love has wings. There is not only 
righteousness but also impulse, aspiration, uplifting power 
in love to God, and of these every man is in sore and 
desperate need. 

But is not the person of God too vague and dim an 
object for the soul of man to love ? Must we not think 



68 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

of him as something shadowy, imperceptible, ether-like, 
diffused through space, eluding search, and perplexing 
reason ? Yes, if we stop with the bare notion of infinite 
being. But the Bible does not stop with that. The heart 
of man does not stop with that. The God revealed to us 
by the Scriptures is more than infinite being, without char- 
acter or life. He is One who knows and feels and loves, 
who proposes and executes, who is our father, our friend, our 
helper, our Saviour, and who in the fulness of time entered 
into human life and carried its burdens even to the cross. 
If we wish to know him truly, and to be certain of his 
wisdom and love, we have but to study the fourfold Gospel 
till we see his mind in the face of Jesus Christ. Listen 
to the Lord's word the evening before crucifixion : " He 
that hath seen me, hath seen the Father." You, indeed, 
whom I address, have not seen the bodily form of the 
Son of man, as Philip had seen it; but have you not 
perceived the tone and rhythm and charm of his spirit ? 
Is there any character of past ages more clearly defined 
than his ? Can you recall the name of any saint or sage 
whose temper was so sweet and just, so holy and pitiful 
as his ? whose word was so luminous and penetrating and 
vivifying ; whose endurance of wrong was so meek and 
heroic ; whose work was so beneficent and God-like ? To 
manifest his spirit, in but the humblest way, is to glorify 
him, and to glorify him is to glorify the Father also. 
Whatever, then, you do in word or act to make the Saviour 
understood and appreciated by men, is, verily, in the 
deepest sense, living unto God. There is no mystery in 
this language. The truth of it is clear as the sun and 
certain as life. 

And you have occasion to be thankful, for your call to a 
service which so closely resembles that of Christ. For in 



GOD AND THE UNIVERSE. 69 

form as well as in motive your service is like unto his. 
Not altogether identical, but similar ; not so perfect or 
fundamental, but to a certain extent along the same lines. 
He came, not to be ministered unto, but to minister ; and 
this should be true of you. He came to seek and to save 
that which was lost, and your efforts will be directed 
toward the same end. He came to bear witness to the 
truth, and that will be your work as well. He came to 
do, not his own will, but his Father's, and you are ex- 
pecting to act by the same rule. The path which he trod 
was rough and toilsome, leading at last to the cross, and 
yours will not be wholly different. You will doubtless 
see in it the footprints of Jesus, and rejoice to " fill up 
that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in your 
flesh, for his body's sake which is the church." 

I do not then say that it is easier to serve God in the 
ministry than it is in any other calling. Nor do I say 
that this form of service is more acceptable to God than 
a life of business equally filled with devotion to him. 
The fruits of toil may be consecrated as well as toil itself. 
The farmer, the mechanic, the merchant, the inventor, the 
lawyer, the statesman, the magistrate may honor the Lord 
as effectually as the pastor of a Christian church or the 
missionary to a benighted people. Yet it cannot be a 
matter of indifference that the form of service to which 
you are called has been transfigured by the public ministry 
of Christ, that if you wish to know what to preach, when 
to preach, where to preach, or how to preach, his example 
is before you. Men say that his life in Nazareth as a 
carpenter has consecrated manual labor for all time ; and 
their words may be true. But this part of his work is 
barely mentioned in the Gospels, and has slight impor- 
tance, when compared with his public ministry. No 



70 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

specimens of his handiwork have been preserved ; for 
their relation to the spiritual welfare of men would be 
remote, if not injurious. They would doubtless be objects 
of mere curiosity or of superstitious reverence, rather than 
evidences of honest toil and useful skill. Not so with his 
teaching. Its relation to spiritual life is still direct and 
important; for in it he lays the axe at the root of the 
tree ; conscience is stirred and will is moved to action. 
Fix your eye with increasing firmness on him ; follow 
the course of his ministry in Judea, Samaria, and Gali- 
lee ; notice his wisdom in adapting religious truth to the 
different classes and changing tempers of men ; observe 
the effect which his teaching had on their minds ; study 
the thoroughness of his method, the boldness of his 
speech, the tenderness of his appeals ; and bear in mind, 
for your comfort and strength, that as far as this part of 
his work is concerned, yours is almost the same, — the 
truth to be preached, the object of preaching, and the 
characters of those who are addressed, have not been 
changed by the lapse of time. 

And so I affirm with perfect confidence that your use- 
fulness in the ministry will be certain, if you have the 
purpose and temper of Jesus Christ. It was the posses- 
sion of these that made Paul what he was, and Athanasius, 
and Augustine, and Bunyan, and Judson. And it is by 
the possession of these that you will live unto God, which 
is your supreme duty ; " for of him and through him, and 
unto him, are all things ; to whom be glory forever. 
Amen." x 

1 Baccalaureate Sermon, delivered at Newton Centre, May 4, 1890. 



CHRISTIAN SCIENCE AND MIND-CURE. 

IT will be the object of this paper to review the meta- 
physics of "Christian Science" and the method of 
"Mind-Cure," as these are explained by Mrs. Glover- 
Eddy in two volumes, entitled "Science and Health." If 
the pages of t&is writer were as perspicuous as they are 
positive, and their reasoning as conclusive as it is con- 
fident, our task would be easy and useless. But neither 
of these things is true, and therefore interpretation and 
criticism may be of real service to persons who have not 
leisure to study the volumes named. Besides, a state- 
ment of Mrs. Eddy's theory and practice will afford, it 
is believed, a tolerably correct view of mind-cure as up- 
held and used by others, though there are minor differ- 
ences between those who agree on the main points. 

The first thing to which we call attention is the very 
high place which is given to science ; not, indeed, to medi- 
cal science as taught in the schools and applied by phy- 
sicians, for this is treated with little respect; nor to 
physical science, for of this the writer appears to have 
no thorough knowledge, — but to metaphysics, or the 
science of being, which is highly extolled. Thus it is 
said on the ninth page: "A demand for metaphysics 
expresses the wants of the race; it is the one question 
to be considered, for it relates more intimately than all 



72 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

others to the progress of mankind." But the wants of 
the race in this respect are to be met, the progress of 
mankind is virtually assured; for "as time is working 
wonders in the world we call material, the swift pinions 
of thought are soaring to the realm of the real, the first 
cause of all things." Nor are we long in doubt as to 
whose " pinions of thought " are supposed to be swift and 
soaring, for it is presently added that " the honored mate- 
rialistic philosophers, — Professors Tyndall, Huxley, Agas- 
siz, and others, — appear to challenge to final combat be- 
tween physics and metaphysics, and at this Utopian pe- 
riod, like the shepherd-boy with his sling, woman goes to 
battle with the Goliath " (p. 10). Here is no despondency, 
but rather perfect assurance. The army oMhe uncircum- 
cised is on the eve of final overthrow. Again ; " We ask 
for the things that belong to truth, and safely affirm, from 
the demonstrations we have been able to make, that the 
science of man understood would have eradicated sin, 
sickness, and death, in a less period than six thousand 
years" (p. 6). We confess to some doubts on the point, 
but we can hardly expect to live six thousand years that 
we may see whether sin, sickness, and death will be abol- 
ished by the new science of man. 

But what is the central doctrine of this science which is 
to deliver us from all evil ? " One of the following state- 
ments can alone be true, namely, that all is matter or 
that all is mind ; which one is it ? " (p. 10). " Metaphysics 
resolves things into thoughts, and exchanges the objects 
of sense for the ideas of soul. . . . The realm of the real 
is spiritual ; the opposite of spirit is matter. . . . Matter 
is an error of statement, for there is no matter. Nothing 
we can say or believe regarding matter is true, except that 
matter is unreal. . . . The science of mind shows conclu- 



CHRISTIAN SCIENCE AND MIND-CURE. , 73 

sively that matter is a myth " (p. 11). " While the dream 
lasts matter is real ; but when we wake to the truth of be- 
ing, all of error, pain, weakness, weariness, sorrow, sin, and 
death will be unknown and the dream forgotten" (p. 11). 
This does not refer to our condition hereafter, but to our 
condition here, when our metaphysics are rectified. 

Pages might be filled with quotations similar to these, 
but enough has been given. Every one must perceive 
that the view affirmed in these extracts lies at the foun- 
dation of the so-called mind-cure. Mind is substance, 
reality; matter is illusion; therefore bodily pain is an 
illusion. But the opinion that matter has no real exist- 
ence is by no means new, and the writer of this work is 
not singular in holding it. Speculative thought, whether 
crude or cultivated, tends to reduce all things to one, and 
not to speak of earlier philosophers, there have been able 
teachers of monism in the present century, for example, 
Lotze, Hazard, Bowne, Eoyce, Schurman and others. But 
these writers attempt to justify their philosophy by a crit- 
ical examination of the cognitive powers of man, especially 
by showing that sound and light have no existence out- 
side of consciousness or the mind, as well as by the sat- 
isfying unity which their hypothesis gives to all things ; 
but the author of " Science and Health " seems to rely 
wholly upon her notion of God for the solution of every 
difficulty in metaphysics. What then is the view of God 
which Christian Science affirms ? 

This is the second thing to be noticed in our review ; 
and to avoid the possibility of misapprehension, the words 
of Mrs. Eddy will be carefully cited. In the " Platform 
of Christian Scientists," which is published in the second 
volume (pp. 192-8), the first article states that " God is 
supreme, the only Life, Substance, and Intelligence of the 



74 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

universe and man ; " the second article, " that God is 
Principle and not person, Mind and not matter ; " the 
third article, " that God is all that is real or eternal ; " 
the fourth, "that God is Spirit and spirit is infinite, 
and there can be but one spirit because there can be but 
one infinite." Omitting the next three articles, which 
merely amplify those given above, it is noteworthy that 
all personality is denied , for " there is neither a per- 
sonal Deity, nor a personal devil, nor a personal man." 
Let no man then claim to be a personal being, but hum- 
bly admit that he is either an impersonal force or no force 
at all. But our conception of personality is founded on 
the nature of man, and if it does not express what is true 
of him we have no further use for the word. Is not one 
walking on slippery places who ventures to deny the com- 
mon judgment of mankind ? But Mrs. Eddy does not leave 
this startling denial without support of a certain kind, 
for she remarks that " the Infinite never entered into the 
finite," and still further that " if a portion of the Infinite 
could enter limits, that portion would lose the nature of 
Deity" (II. 193). Thus personality is supposed to be 
conditioned on finiteness. And this opinion is not singu- 
lar, for many deny the personality of God on the ground 
that self-consciousness implies limitation ; yet few of them 
have founded their denial on the assumption that personal- 
ity implies a bodily organism. But " Christian Science " 
does this explicitly, by saying that " for a personal Deity 
to be omnipresent, he must possess a body encompassing 
universal space, and we cannot conceive of such a person- 
ality" (p. 25). We do not wonder at this; for universal 
space is doubtless unlimited, and to conceive of a body en- 
compassing it would be to conceive of the unlimited as 
limited. But there would be no contradiction in suppos- 



CHRISTIAN SCIENCE AND MIND-CURE. 75 

ing a body to pervade universal space, though we have no 
reason to affirm the existence of any such body. The prin- 
cipal mistake, however, is the assumption that a body is 
necessary in order to personality. Every one who makes 
this assumption does it without knowledge, and an asser- 
tion founded on ignorance is worthless. A further state- 
ment concerning divine personality may be regarded as 
original. It reads thus : " God produces his own person- 
ality, and cannot get into it, because it is only the idea of 
Him who is the circumference and infinite Spirit of all 
things real and eternal " (p. 25). This does not appear 
to be a lucid expression of axiomatic truth. 

Another passage declares that " the infinite Mind, to be 
a person, would require an infinite form to contain it, and 
a personal man as finite form would not be the image or 
likeness of God " (p. 10). Here we discover our author's 
reason for denying the personality of man. To be infinite 
God must be impersonal. God cannot be personal, for in 
order to be so and at the same time infinite, He mast 
have an infinite form, which is impossible ; man cannot 
be personal, because he is the likeness of an infinite Being, 
and must therefore be infinite himself. This would be 
sound reasoning, if it were certain that bodily form is an 
essential condition of personal life, and if every likeness 
must be equal in size to the being or thing which it rep- 
resents. But if either of these assumptions is unfounded, 
the reasoning is worthless ; and as we consider both of 
them to be unfounded it is impossible for us to see any 
force in the reasoning, 

Yet the author of " Science and Health " has another 
arrow in her quiver. " The Scripture saith : God is all in 
all. We understand this to be so ; but if God is all, 
there is nothing for him to enter into but himself. All 



76 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

is mind, there is no matter; all is harmony, there is no 
discord ; all is life, there is no death ; all is good, there is 
no evil ; all is God and his idea " (p. 193). According to 
this beautiful theory, there is no evil or sin in the world. 
" Sweetness and light " pervade the universe. But is there 
not some mistake here? If God is literally all, as things 
now are, what need of such a treatise as " Science and 
Health " ? Surely harmony, life, good, God, do not need 
the new metaphysics to set them right or to make them 
know that they are right. Notice how simple the uni- 
verse becomes : " If mind is both within and outside of 
all things, then all is mind, and the classification is scien- 
tific." Nay, if this be the case, there is no need or possi- 
bility of classification ; One is One, comparable with 
nothing else and simply identical with itself. But there 
are worlds of fact to be urged against this simple solution 
of the enigma of a universe darkened by sin and sorrow. 
A third point worthy of remark is the view of man 
inculcated by " Science and Health." This view has been 
already stated in part, for it will be recollected that there 
is neither a "personal God, nor a personal devil, nor a 
personal man." Man is therefore an impersonal being. 
But this is not all: "The science of being reveals man 
perfect even as the Father is perfect ; because the soul of 
man is God, and man is governed by Soul instead of sense, 
by the law of Spirit instead of a supposed law of matter " 
(p. 22). A few pages later we encounter the following: 
"God, without the image and likeness of Himself, named 
man, would be nonentity. Spiritual man, and there is no 
other, is the idea of God that cannot be lost or separated 
from its Principle" (p. 28). "Man is eternal and co- 
existent with God, and they are inseparable in divine 
science " (p. 173). Again : " Man and God, being Prin- 



CHRISTIAN SCIENCE AND MIND-CURE. 77 

ciple and idea, are inseparable, harmonious, infinite, and 
eternal. . . . This metaphysical statement understood, 
ultimates in eternal harmony " (II. 194). Two pages 
later we read that " the word ' Adam ' signifies ' original 
sin,' error, and not man. Adam is from the Latin demens, 
meaning c madness,' ' to undo,' ' to spoil.' The word 
should be read as rendered, Adamn. The Scripture plainly 
declares Adam accursed ; yet our translators have as 
plainly declared the word and the curse a man, and this 
man to have originated in dust instead of Deity ! The 
eternal ' Us ' or ' I ' made man in the image and likeness 
of God ; a curse was not that likeness. A limited mind 
or a limited body, a limited sinner or a limited saint, is 
not the likeness of Infinity " (II. 196). 

This last quotation, — to say nothing of previous ones, 
— affords evidence of error in the author of " Science and 
Health." For it is an error to hold that the word Adam 
signifies " original sin ; " an error to think that it is from 
the Latin demens ; an error to think that demens means 
" to undo " or " to spoil " ; an error to suppose that the 
word should be written Adamn; an error to charge the 
translators of our Bible with declaring that the first man 
originated in dust instead of Deity ; a blunder to suggest 
that original sin is represented as " a curse " either by the 
translators or by good interpreters ; and a mistake to 
assert that a limited being cannot be an image of God. 
For the words " image " and " likeness " are freely used of 
things that resemble other things in certain respects, 
though not throughout, — just as a little child is often 
said to be the very image of his father or his mother. 

To return ; the teaching of " Science and Health " is 
thoroughly pantheistic, and in the interest of this teach- 
ing denies the reality of discord, sin, or death in the world. 



78 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

Yet it admits the presence of all^ these in human belief. 
They are unreal, illusory, to the clear eye of science, but 
they seem to be very real to a majority of mankind. 
Sickness, sin, and death are misbeliefs that ought to have 
been pulled up by the roots long ago and borne away into 
the land of dreams ; but Christian Science was not yet 
born, and so the needed work was not done. Mrs. Eddy, 
however, is confident that she has been raised up to do 
this work by teaching that everything spiritual is divine 
and eternal, while everything called material or evil is 
unreal, the empty shadow of a dream. To this end, the 
metaphysics of "Christian Science" as taught by Mrs. 
Eddy, must be cultivated. 

But the notion that sin, disease, and pain are imaginary 
evils is not readily accepted by mankind in general. Eor 
an apparently real earth, that pushes up its granite moun- 
tains into the sky, and holds immense oceans in its reser- 
voirs, is a strong argument for the existence of matter, or 
if any one prefers, of solidified force, while the sharp 
pangs of headache or toothache protest against every pre- 
tence that they are an illusion, and the intimate con- 
sciousness of wrong-doing bears irrepressible testimony 
to the fact of sin. Indeed, we have heard that the writer 
of " Science and Health " has been known to denounce 
the conduct of some " impersonal " beings much as if they 
were personal and blameworthy. But consistency is a 
jewel which adorns the brows of very few reformers, and 
we have no desire to press the argumentum ad hominem 
against Mrs. Eddy. 

In the second place, attention must be given to the 
method of Christian Science in dealing with sickness. It 
is called briefly " the mind-cure," and the author of 
" Science and Health " directs her pupils to proceed as 



CHRISTIAN SCIENCE AND MIND-CURE. 79 

follows: "Argue the patient's case silently at first. 
Afterwards, if you can fix truth stronger in their thoughts, 
and your patients are prepared for it, explain the meta- 
physical facts of disease. . . . Argue that there is no 
disease; it is but the evidence and object of the senses 
that you have to destroy, not a reality, but a belief that 
lias all the appearance of reality ; that the Truth of being 
is harmony, and discord nothing but a belief; therefore 
health and harmony are real, sickness and discord unreal " 
(p. 186). "Say to the patient mentally, 'You are not 
sick,' and hold your ground with the skill of a lawyer. 
Argue down the witnesses against your plea, and you 
will destroy those witnesses, and the disease will disap- 
pear. . . . Avoid talking with the sick ; make no unne- 
cessary inquiries relative to their symptoms or supposed 
diseases ; never startle them with a remark discouraging 
about their recovery ; never draw their attention to their 
symptoms as unfavorable, or give them names for their 
diseases " (p. 187). " If the case to be treated is a con- 
sumption, begin your argument by taking up the leading 
symptoms that this disease includes, according to belief, 
showing that it is not inherited, that inflammation, tuber- 
cles, hemorrhage, and decomposition are but thoughts, 
beliefs, mental images before mortal minds, not the im- 
mortal Mind ; hence they are not the Truth of man, and 
should be treated as error, put out of mind, and then they 
will disappear from the body. . . . Sickness is a belief, 
and to understand this destroys the belief and breaks the 
spell of disease " (p. 188). " Commence your treatment 
always by allaying fear. Argue mentally to the patient, 
'You have no disease, you are not in danger, you have 
nothing to fear, and are pretty well ; ' then watch the 
result of that simple science, and you will find it soothes 



80 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

the symptoms of every disease ; and if you never added 
an argument, but succeeded in destroying his fear without 
it, you would heal your patient " (p. 190). " If he is an 
inebriate, or a slave to tobacco, or the servant of sin, 
endeavor to meet and destroy those errors with the Truth 
of being" (p. 190). And here we expected Mrs. Eddy to 
say: "Show him that intoxicating drink is an illusion, 
that tobacco is a shadow, having no efficiency towards 
good or ill, and that sin is a dream which cannot harm 
you." But no, she rather says : " Show him the suffering 
they bring ; convince him there is no pleasure in them ; 
awaken him to a new sense of moral courage and power, 
and strengthen his ability to master evil and to love 
good" (p. 191). 

" To prevent a fever or to cure it, you must find the type, 
get the name, and commence your mental plea against the 
physical. Argue with the patient, mentally, that he has 
no fever, and conform the argument to the evidence. 
If the body is matter it cannot have a fever or suffer; 
and if it is mind, or governed by mind, it will manifest 
only what mind says on the subject. Hence, the remedy 
is to destroy the patient's belief in a fever, by arguing the 
opposite facts of harmonious being," etc. (p. 221). "This 
dream of sickness, sin, and death must be broken. . . . 
We have raised up the dying, because they were willing 
to be healed, with far less effort, and in comparatively a 
moment of time" (p. 222). Sin is cured in the same way 
as sickness ; for both are mental illusions ; but sin is 
more difficult to remove than sickness. 

But from what source is this science derived ? " We 
have found nothing in ancient and modern systems on 
which to found ours, except the teachings and demonstra- 
tions of our great Master and the lives of prophets and 



CHRISTIAN SCIENCE AND MIND-CURE. 81 

apostles. The Bible was our only text-book ; we had no 
other guide in the strait and narrow way of metaphys- 
ics" (p. 196). This surprising statement, which really 
makes the Lord Jesus responsible for the metaphysics and 
curative process of Mrs. Eddy, needs no refutation. If 
these things were found in the life of the great Master, 
they were put into the record of His life before they were 
discovered there. For that record nowhere denies the 
personality of God, Satan, or man, the existence of mat- 
ter, or the reality of sin, sickness, and death. It recog- 
nizes and affirms them all in words clear as light. More- 
over, it appears from the sacred record that Christ healed 
the sick by a word of authority, and raised the dead in 
the same way. But this is not the process described by 
the author of " Science and Health." 

Finally, are persons really cured of disease by the 
method taught in these volumes ? And if they sometimes 
are, how are we to account for the fact ? In answer to 
the former question we say that, according to the testi- 
mony of those concerned, cures have been wrought by the 
method in question. A few of those described in this 
work may be given as succintly as possible. 

1. The recovery of Mrs. Eddy from the effects of a fall. 
" We became insensible after the injury, and were taken 
to the house of Mr. Samuel Eubier, one of our most re- 
spected citizens. The kindness and care of his excellent 
wife, and the administration of ether, carried us through 
the first night ; we were then removed on a bed to our 
home ; the case was pronounced fatal by our attending 
surgeon and physician; he said we could not survive over 
three days. The third day was the Sabbath ; our clergy- 
man visited us before services, prayed with us ; and said 
farewell. We asked him to call after meeting. He 

6 



82 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

replied by asking us if we knew the fatal nature of our 
injury, and that we were sinking and might not survive 
through the day, We replied that we knew it all, but 
had such faith in God we thought he would raise us up. 
After he left, we requested to be left alone ; the room was 
full of people, but they all passed out. We opened the 
Bible to the third chapter of Mark, where our Master 
healed the withered hand on the Sabbath day. As we 
read, the change came over us ; the limbs that were 
immovable, cold, and without feeling, warmed ; the in- 
ternal agony ceased, our strength came instantaneously, 
and we rose from our bed and stood upon our feet., well. 
. . . There are persons living who can attest to the 
above facts." How can they do this, if no one was in the 
room at the time ? But the narrative goes on : "For three 
years thereafter we sought day and night the solution of 
that problem, searched the Scriptures, read nothing else, 
not even a newspaper, kept aloof from society, and devoted 
all our time and energies to discovering a rule for that 
demonstration. We knew its principle was God, and we 
thought it was done according to primitive Christian heal- 
ing, by a certain action of the mind upon the body through 
a holy up-lifting faith ; but we wanted to find the science 
that governed it; and by the help of God we did find 
it, and were reminded of the Shepherds' shout, ' For 
unto us a child is born,' a new idea has birth, and ' his 
name is Wonderful'" (pp. 155-7). Mrs. Eddy evidently 
puts the words of the prophet Isaiah in the lips of the 
shepherds of Bethlehem, a mistake which ought not, 
perhaps, to occasion surprise, when made by one who 
applies the high Messianic name " Wonderful " to Christian 
Science, her " new idea." 

We may add without quotation, for brevity's sake, 



CHRISTIAN SCIENCE AND MIND-CURE. 83 

that Mrs. Eddy accuses her physician of saying falsely, 
" in a meeting of a medical society in Boston," that his 
medicine cured her at the time of that accident. Indeed, 
she declares that when the surgeon called and found her 
well, she showed him all his medicine, " every particle of 
it," in the drawer of a table. It follows that he told a 
deliberate falsehood to the society, or else that he had for- 
gotten the facts, or possibly that he did not identify the 
medicine in the drawer as being the whole of that which 
he had given her, or, finally, that the writer of " Science 
and Health " has an imperfect memory. On the whole 
this case is not entirely satisfactory. We are not informed 
as to the precise nature of the mysterious injury ; we do 
not know why the internal agony ceased and her limbs 
became warm at the time referred to ; for as sudden a 
relief from pain and restoration of warmth to the limbs 
have been know to follow the use of medicine. We do 
not say that this cure was not the effect of mind upon 
body, but we confess that the narrative does not prove to 
us that it must have been. It is not therefore a sure foun- 
dation for a new science ; much less is it any foundation at 
all for the metaphysics which we have already criticised. 
2. " A lady whom we cured of consumption breathed 
with great difficulty when the wind was east. We sat 
silently by her side a few moments, and her breath came 
gently, the inspirations were deep and natural. We re- 
quested her to look at the weather-vane. She looked ) 
and said it was due east. The wind had not changed, 
but her difficult breathing was gone, for it was not the 
wind that had produced it ; and metaphysical treatment, 
changing the action her belief had produced on the system, 
relieved her, and she never suffered again from east winds." 
If there is no exaggeration in this recital, if the lady in 



84 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

question was suffering from tubercular consumption, or 
even from severe asthma, the influence of mind upon body, 
of belief upon health, is sometimes very great, and medical 
practice may yet be able to do more for the sick by wise 
instruction and counsel than has been done hitherto. But 
we fail to see that this narrative proves the body to be 
a phantasm, or disease to be only an erroneous opinion. 
For the connection between soul and body is confessedly 
intimate and mysterious ; and because the mind has a 
remarkable power over the body, is no evidence of the 
non-existence of the body. And if we appeal to con- 
sciousness it will be certain that the body gives a thousand- 
fold more evidence of having substantial being or actual 
force, than any object seen in dreams is able to give. 

3. Similar testimony is quoted from James Ingham, of 
East Stoughton. " I was suffering from pulmonary diffi- 
culties, pains in the chest, a hard and unremitting cough, 
hectic fever, and all those fearful symptoms that made 
my case alarming." Mrs. Eddy was consulted with the 
following result. " I had not received her attention but 
a short time, when my symptoms disappeared and I 
regained health. During this time I rode out in storms 
to visit her, and found the damp weather had no effect on 
me" (p 152). " A short time " is, of course, somewhat in- 
definite. So is the expression, " I regained health." If he 
had said " perfect health " or " sound health," the testimony 
would have been clearer. And the present writer is too 
little acquainted with the effect of riding out in damp 
weather upon consumptive patients to form a just esti- 
mate of the significance of that feature of the case. But 
if everything claimed is granted, the influence of mind 
or belief upon bodily health is absolutely all which 
the case establishes; it does not afford a particle of 



CHRISTIAN SCIENCE AND MIND-CURE. 85 

proof that disease is entirely mental or the body itself 
unreal. 

4. Mrs. Miranda Eice of Lynn says : " At the birth of 
my youngest child, eight years old, I thought my ap- 
proaching confinement was several weeks premature, and 
sent her a message to that effect. Without seeing me, 
she returned answer the proper time had come, and she 
would be with me immediately. Slight labor pains had 
commenced before she arrived ; she stopped them imme- 
diately, and requested me to call a midwife, but to keep 
him below the stairs till after the birth. ... I asked her 
how I should lie. She answered, ' It makes no difference 
how you lie,' and simply said, ' Now let the child be born,' 
and immediately the birth took place without a single 
pang. ... I did not expect so much, even from Mrs. 
Eddy, especially as I had suffered before very severely in 
child-birth." It will be noted that Mrs. Eddy is here 
credited with extraordinary knowledge as well as influ- 
ence ; for without seeing Mrs. Rice she declares that " the 
proper time " for the child's birth had come. This is, 
perhaps, the most remarkable feature of the case, though 
the others are striking, if not dramatic ; and Mrs. Eddy 
leaves us to infer the source of her knowledge. 

5. Miss Ellen C. Pillsbury, of Sanbornton Bridge, 
N. H., after typhoid fever, was suffering from what her 
physicians called enteritis of the severest form. Her case 
was given up by her medical physician, and she was lying 
at the point of death, when Mrs. Glover (now Mrs. Eddy) 
visited her. In a few moments after she entered the 
room ana stood by her bed-side, " she recognized her 
aunt, . . . and in about ten minutes more Mrs. Glover 
told her to rise from her bed and walk. She rose and 
walked seven times across her room, then sat down in a 



86 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

chair. For two weeks before this, we had not entered 
her room without stepping lightly. Her bowels were so 
tender she felt the jar, and it increased her sufferings. 
She could only be moved in a sheet from bed to bed. . . . 
The next day she was dressed and went down to the 
table" (by Mrs. Elizabeth P. Baker, p. 153). 

6 Louisa M. Armstrong writes to Mrs. Eddy : " Please 
find enclosed a check for five hundred dollars, in reward 
for your services that can never be repaid. The day you 
received my husband's letter, I became conscious for the 
first time in forty-eight hours. My servant brought my 
wrapper, and I arose from the bed and sat up. The at- 
tack of the heart lasted two days, and we all think I 
could not have survived but for the wonderful help I re- 
ceived from you. The enlargement of my left side is all 
gone, and the M. D.s pronounce me rid of heart disease. 
I had been afflicted from it from infancy. It became or- 
ganic enlargement of the heart and dropsy of the chest. 
I was only waiting, and almost longing to die. . . . T feel 
perfectly well" (p. 153). The next case is similar in 
some of its features. 

7. Mr. R 0. Badgely, of Cincinnati, Ohio, writes as fol- 
lows : " My painful and. swelled foot was restored at once 
on your receipt of my letter, and that very day I put on 
my boot and walked several miles." It seems that "a 
stick of timber had fallen from a building on the top of 
[his] foot, crushing the bones and causing great pain ; " but 
the moment his letter, describing the case, and asking, 
" Cannot you help me ? " reached Mrs. Eddy, his foot was 
restored. If she believes that the restoration was due to 
her will, no wonder she writes: "Metaphysicians can 
heal the sick, absent from them : space is no obstacle to 
mind. Our students are healing those whom they never 



CHRISTIAN SCIENCE AND MIND-CURE. 87 

saw. The world is made better by the aroma of Truth on 
its pinions of light chasing away the darkness of error " 
(p. 151). 

Accepting these statements at their full value as evi- 
dence of sudden relief from pain or restoration to health, 
we cannot see that they establish any metaphysical or 
other connection between Mrs. Eddy and her correspon- 
dents. Inflammation and pain in a bruised limb have often 
been known to pass away quickly after a period during 
which remedies seemed to be powerless ; and the same 
may be said of inflammation and pain in the bowels. 
Moreover, venders of patent medicines publish certifi- 
cates of equally remarkable cures from the use of their 
nostrums, whether good or bad. And it is worthy of con- 
sideration that many of these nostrums are proved by just 
this kind of evidence to be specifics for all sorts of ills 
that flesh is heir to. Physicians also of the highest char- 
acter report instances of recovery as surprising as any of 
those alleged in " Science and Health," and attribute them 
to the influence of approved medicines. If, then, we were 
to treat Mrs. Eddy's proofs of mind-cure as she herself has 
treated the proofs which medical practitioners give of the 
value of their services to the sick, we should reject her 
testimonials as worthless. Thus she says : " My experi- 
ence with materia medica has proved it the baseless fabric 
of a dream, its theory pernicious, and the way out of it the 
only interesting passage it contains " (p. 211). And in sup- 
port of her contempt for medical science, she quotes brief 
expressions from five different physicians ; she might have 
quoted opposite sentiments from five thousand men of the 
same profession. Our opinion is that she cannot have had 
large practice as a physician, and that her judgment con- 
cerning materia medica is on a par with her knowledge 
of metaphysics. 



88 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

But we admit that persons have sometimes derived 
benefit from the " Mind-cure," and ask, How is this to be 
accounted for ? The answer is at hand , by the power of 
mind over body. Not that this power is absolute, but 
that it is very great. For the mind is closely connected, 
though we know not how, with the brain, and the brain 
with the whole nervous system permeating the body 
throughout. Hence thinking and feeling affect the cir- 
culation of the blood and reach every organ of our physi- 
cal being. Moreover the effect of thought and feeling on 
the tissues of the body depends upon the character of that 
thought and feeling. Fear, doubt, discouragement, or de- 
spair, nay, much anxiety or care, diminishes bodily vigor 
and favors disease. On the other hand, hope, confidence, 
or even resignation, is conducive to health. The direc- 
tions given by Mrs. Eddy to those who practise the Mind- 
cure show how confidently she relies on turning the 
patient's attention from his bodily illness. If one can be 
made to think that he has no disease, all the anxiety, de- 
pression, or fear occasioned by his sickness will vanish, 
and the influence of mind upon body will be curative. 
Hence the value of a cheerful and competent nurse. 
Hence, too, the effect of something new upon persons 
who have lost confidence in old and customary remedies. 
And let the last point be duly considered. For the 
patient's mind is often put into an excited and expectant 
state by the very audacity of the metaphysics proposed as 
the means of cure. Curiosity, if not wonder, overcomes 
depression. " What may not this mysterious treatment 
accomplish ? If its efficacy is wholly inexplicable, who 
can put limits to what it may do ? " Thus the thoughts 
are turned into new channels, the nerves begin to thrill 
with a gentle excitement, and the blood rushes more 



CHRISTIAN SCIENCE AND MIND-CURE. 89 

swiftly through the arteries. When this is supplemented 
by confident assertion on the part of the practitioner that 
there is really no disease to be cured, that the patient is 
well though laboring under a misapprehension, the effect 
may be surprising. In an old and true sense of the ex- 
pression, it is mind-cure. 

But while admitting that the mind has marvellous in- 
fluence over the body, and that many cures have been 
wrought by the action of the former on the latter, we re- 
ject the pantheism of " Christian Science " as not merely 
untrue, but also as practically incredible. Until Mrs. 
Eddy and her friends give up eating and drinking for the 
support of the body, we shall believe them to be distrust- 
ful of their own metaphysics. If hunger can be removed 
by food, disease may be cured by medicine. And if hun- 
ger cannot be appeased by denying the existence of an 
empty stomach, a broken bone cannot be made whole by 
denying the reality of the bone or of the fracture. 



THE SACRED WRITINGS. 

But abide thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast 
been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them ; and that 
from a babe thou hast known the sacred writings, which are able to 
make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. 
— 2 Tim. hi. 14-15. 

" r I ^HE sacred writings " spoken of in this place are 
J~ those of the Old Testament; hut it is certainly 
right to associate with them the writings of the New 
Testament as equally sacred, that we may look together 
at certain noteworthy features of the whole Bible which 
we have known from childhood. No apology is needed 
for saying a last word to you on this great subject, 
especially if something can be added, at this point or 
at that, to the view which was discussed two years 
ago in the class-room. For the theme is not only one 
of intrinsic importance, it is also one that now engages 
public attention to an unusual degree, and therefore 
what is said to you who have been girding yourselves 
for service on the high places of the field, may at the 
same time be heard with interest by members of this 
congregation. Let us then look at a few characteristics 
of that unique collection of writings which we call the 
Bible, and which we believe to be, in some proper 
sense of the word, sacred. And let us assume, for the 



THE SACRED WRITINGS. 91 

time being, that a revelation of truth concerning God 
and man has been preserved for our use in those 
writings, and on the basis of this moderate assumption 
proceed to inspect them with care that we may ascer- 
tain the features of that revelation. In so doing, we 
shall find that it may be truly described, — 

1. As fragmentary. This is distinctly affirmed in the 
first verse of the Epistle to the Hebrews as to the 
revelation contained in the Old Testament : " God, hav- 
ing spoken of old in many parts and many ways unto 
the fathers in the prophets, hath at the end of these 
days spoken unto us in a Son." According to this 
passage, it was in and through the prophets that God 
long ago made revelation of his will to Israel, and we 
are surely justified in believing that a part of that 
revelation has come down to us in their writings, 
enough at least to manifest its conspicuous features. 
From these writings, as well as from the testimony of 
the Epistle to the Hebrews, we learn that religious 
truth was revealed to the minds of Hebrew prophets, 
and by them delivered to the people, " in many parts," 
here a little, and there a little ; one truth to this 
prophet, and another to that, with almost no effort to 
point out their interdependence or even their agree- 
ment. The revelation thus given was not complete, 
systematic, or philosophical; it was conveyed to the 
people in fragments of history, biography, and song, in 
proverbs, warnings, and promises ; and who can say 
that the method of communication chosen was not 
adapted to men who had been long enslaved and were 
now wandering in the desert, or who at a later day 
were sometimes ungoverned and often badly governed, 
being withal singularly wayward, stubborn, and disin- 



92 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

clined to logical thought ? Jets of light, flashes of 
truth, visible judgments, striking deliverances, pathetic 
admonitions were what they seemed to need at that 
period of their history, if we may reason from the 
method which God took to make them receive his 
truth and obey his will. 

The same course was followed, according to the 
Gospel record, by Jesus Christ himself, when teaching 
the people at a later age. He undertook no systematic 
exposition of religious truth, — of the being of God, of 
the nature of man, of the guilt of sin, of the resurrec- 
tion of the dead, of the life to come. He spoke of 
these things briefly, as occasion required, and for prac- 
tical ends. He taught the people simply, on particular 
points, and by way of testimony rather than of argument. 
This was what they could bear, anything beyond this 
would have been unsuited to their mental or moral 
state. And the Gospel narratives are constructed in 
the same manner. They do not aim to give a full 
account of the Saviour's life on earth, but only brief 
selections from what he said and did, — samples of his 
ministry. Indeed, I cannot call to mind any piece of 
history or biography in the whole Bible which must 
not be pronounced with great emphasis fragmentary, 
and as far as I can judge intentionally so. This, then, 
should be borne in mind when we study the Sacred 
Writings, and we should never fondly expect to fill up 
the wide gaps which in many cases separate one event 
from another. If we could, a hundred difficulties might 
vanish, and our critical judgment be satisfied. But who 
can know that the added material would benefit the 
world ? Who can assure us that the Bible we have 
is not large enough for mankind ? 



THE SACRED WRITINGS. 93 

The revelation of God in the Sacred Writings may be 
also described — 

2. As multiform. For, turning again to the first 
verse of the Epistle to the Hebrews, we read that 
w< God spoke of old in the prophets unto the fathers 
in many ways." The form of revelation was not always 
the same, whether we think of the manner in which the 
truth was presented to the prophet's mind, or of the 
manner in which he laid it before the people. The 
process may have been something like this. While 
the prophet's spirit was kindled to intense fervor and 
insight by the spirit of God, the truth which he was to 
speak was revealed to his mind by a significant picture 
spread before his inward eye, or by a divine message ad- 
dressed to his soul's ear. Both these forms of revelation 
were employed when Peter " fell into a trance, and beheld 
the heaven opened and a certain vessel descending, as it 
were a great sheet, wherein were all manner of beasts and 
creeping things and fowls, and heard a voice saying, ' Eise, 
Peter ; kill and eat.' " Oftener, it may be, the symbolic 
vision was omitted, and the message of God borne into 
the prophet's mind by divine speech (which was as real* 
and as noiseless as that of the stars), a speech heard by 
the prophet's spirit, but inaudible to sense. And oftener 
still, it may be, was the message of God brought to him 
by the recollection of some providential event, some awful 
calamity, or blessed deliverance, which flashed a new light 
into his quickened mind. In dreams, in visions of the 
night, in voices which only the spirit could hear, by the 
Urim and Thummim, by historic events and personal ex- 
perience, and in other ways which need not be specified, 
truth was revealed, here a little, and there a little, to men 
of God in ancient times, and a great part of that truth 



94 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

is preserved for us in the Sacred Writings. " For no 
prophecy ever came by the will of man ; but men spoke 
from God, being moved by the Holy Spirit." 

The forms in which it was given to the prophets were, 
however, no more various than the forms in which they 
delivered it to the people. Indeed, they repeated as far 
as possible the form as well as the substance of what they 
received. Why should they not do this ? Or how could 
they help doing it ? For if any imagery was employed in 
revealing' a truth to them, it would naturally be imagery 
with which they were familiar, — imagery borrowed from 
scenes, customs, or events which they knew, and which 
would therefore be known to the men whom they ad- 
dressed, the people of their own land and time. And if 
language, though voiceless, was the medium of imparting 
any truth to their minds, it would certainly be their own 
language, as known and used by themselves, and therefore 
a language familiar to their coevals and kinsmen. Why 
should not God, when bringing truth to a mind under 
the inspiration of his spirit, bring it in the Hebrew dialect 
to a Hebrew, and in the ploughman's diction to a plough- 
man, speaking to every prophet through his own vocabu- 
lary and style, be it rude or cultivated, prosaic or poetical ? 
thus rilling and using all the powers of his servant. And 
if this is God's way of conveying truth into a prophet's 
mind, it will be the prophet's way of reporting it to the 
people. If lie is a poet, he will speak the truth in song ; 
if he is a historian, he will embody the truth in narratives, 
and these narratives may be composed to a great extent 
of selections from earlier records, or of traditions handed 
down from father to son by word of mouth, or of events 
that have fallen under his own eye; if he is wont to 
think in proverbs or allegories, he will utter his thought 



THE SACRED WRITINGS. 95 

in corresponding language. And if God, as we believe, 
reveals his will in and through human powers that are 
quickened, not superseded, by inspiration, those powers 
will modify or determine the forms of that revelation, and 
so there will naturally be, in the Sacred Writings which 
preserve and convey the divine will, narratives of personal 
and national life, registers of family descent, records of 
divine legislation, prescriptions of ritual for worship, 
proverbs and parables, allegories and perhaps fables, 1 
predictions and letters, epic and lyrical poetry, with 
almost every form of religious literature which the 
pure in heart love. There will be literal and Figurative 
speech, there will be hyperbole and even irony, there 
will be allusions to events not recorded, and sayings 
that baffle inquiry. Hence the revelation will not be 
tame or wearisome, unless it be to those who have no 
relish for spiritual truth in any form. The Sacred Writ- 
ings will be like an orchestra of many parts, with mighty 
harmonies rising out of seeming discord. 

But the faithful interpretation of such a literature is 
no holiday task. Its voice is the voice of many waters. 
The highest criticism will not drown it. The boldest 
contempt will not silence it. And nothing short of life- 
long study by many generations of keen-sighted and 
reverent men will discover all the currents of life that 
permeate it. I look upon the Bible as no less sacred and 
inexhaustible than nature, and believe that it will reward 
inquiry till the Lord comes. 

The revelation of God in the Sacred Writings may be 
further described — 

3. As progressive. "First the blade, then the ear, then 

1 For example. Jotham's fable of the trees going forth to anoint 
a king over them. — Judges, ix 8-15. 



96 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

the full corn in the ear," is a proper characterization of it. 
And the reason for this character may be found in the 
spiritual condition of those to whom it was originally 
given. Even Christ, as we learn from His own words on 
the evening before His betrayal, was still, after so long a 
time, limited by the unbelief of His disciples ; for His 
words were these : " I have yet many things to say unto 
you, but ye cannot bear them now." So the method of 
revelation, from first to last, was educational. Every lesson 
was adapted to the capacity of the learner. There was 
something in it which he could receive, — a point of moral 
contact between his conscience and the portion of truth 
delivered to it at any given time. Thus in respect to 
God, his unity and power were early revealed, next, per- 
haps, his holiness, then his goodness to Israel, and later 
his care for all mankind ; finally, in the New Testament, 
his triune existence and perfect grace. Similar progress 
was made in revealing the moral law. Eight of the ten 
commandments were prohibitory of outward offences, and 
but one forbade a sinful desire. Only two required posi- 
tive well-doing, namely, " Honor thy father and thy 
mother," and " Remember the Sabbath-day to keep it 
holy." But the commandment to keep the Sabbath-day 
holy laid principal stress on abstaining from labor. " In 
it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor 
thy daughter, thy man-servant, nor thy maid-servant, nor 
thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is in thy gates." At a 
later day was added the command to love God with all 
the heart and one's neighbor as one's self. But long 
after, in his Sermon on the Mount and in his answer to 
the Pharisees, Jesus Christ put into the moral law its full 
spiritual sense, and solemnly affirmed that every duty en- 
joined by the law or the prophets is involved in that 



THE SACRED WRITINGS. 97 

of appropriate love to God and one's neighbor, — the word 
" neighbor " meaning any human being, whether friend or 
foe, within reach of personal kindness. 

No less evident was the progress of revelation as to 
human sinfulness. From the hour when it was said 
that "the imagination of man's heart is evil from his 
youth," through all the period of Old Testament revela- 
tion, to the day when it was written, " The heart is 
deceitful above all things and desperately wicked," and 
thence to the later time when the Saviour declared, 
" every one that looketh on a woman, to lust after 
her, hath already committed adultery with her in his 
heart," and " he that hateth his brother is a murderer," 
the decree of sin in human hearts has been more 
and more clearly seen. 

Quite as marked also was the progress of revelation 
concerning the Messiah, as will be perceived if we start 
with the promise to Eve, " The seed of the woman 
shall bruise the serpent's head," and trace the succes- 
sive predictions concerning the coming Deliverer through 
all the writings of the prophets, till we read the words of 
John the Baptist in the four Gospels. 

It cannot be necessary to specify other instances in 
proof of the fact that the revelation of God was pro- 
gressive. But it may be well to add that the same 
reason which forbade a revelation of all religious truth 
at once and in the beginning, — namely, the inability of 
men to receive it, — forbade a full and perfect revela- 
tion of it by Jesus Christ and his apostles. Paul was 
under the necessity of feeding the Corinthians with 
milk instead of meat, because they were yet babes in 
Christ and not full-grown men, and even in respect to 
himself, an accepted and inspired apostle, he makes 



98 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

without reluctance this admission, "We know in part 
and prophesy in part ; " and once more, " Now we see in 
a mirror, darkly ; " and still a third time, dropping the 
plural and fixing attention solely on himself, " Now I 
know in part." But observe his language, " / know" 
though it is only a part of the truth ; not, " I guess, or 
imagine a whole system of truth." Let us be thankful 
that the Bible revelation is a progressive revelation of 
truth, though much is reserved for the next life. 

And this fact, the progressive character of revelation, 
should be kept in mind when we search the Scriptures. 
We should never count upon finding the amplest treat- 
ment of any religious truth in the first passage that names 
it. It will be safe for us to follow the example of Christ, 
who " beginning from Moses and from all the prophets, 
interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things con- 
cerning himself." By doing thus in our study of the liv- 
ing oracles, we shall often pass from twilight to dawn, and 
from dawn to noonday. In the light of this method of 
revelation, the Mosaic treatment of slavery, polygamy, and 
divorce is seen to have been due to the hardness of the 
people's heart, and to have been wise and merciful on the 
part of God, — a treatment which wrought slowly but surely 
against wrong, and prepared the way for a law of liberty 
and love. In the light of this method, we can also see 
that many actions which we now condemn may have been 
performed by men faithful in purpose to God, and seeing 
this we shall no longer be surprised at God's acceptance 
of them as his servants. If the act of Jael in deceiving 
and killing Sisera grew out of her intense devotion to God, 
she might well be commended, on that account, while from 
any other point of view her deed was evil. For it must 
never be forgotten that " God looketh at the heart." How 



THE SACRED WRITINGS. 99 

often does ardent but ill-instructed friendship, or patriot- 
ism, or love to God, resort to measures which a better 
knowledge sees to be wrong ! 

The revelation from God in the sacred writings must 
also be characterized — 

4. As religious. This is its grand peculiarity, the fea- 
ture which distinguishes it from first to last. We are told, 
indeed, that Solomon " spoke three thousand proverbs, 
and his songs were a thousand and five ; that he spoke of 
trees, from the cedar-tree that is in Lebanon, even unto 
the hyssop that springeth out of the wall ; and that he 
spoke of beasts, and of fowl, and of creeping things, and 
of fishes ; " but not a word of his scientific wisdom is pre- 
served in the sacred record, and even this brief reference 
to his work as a naturalist is probably due to the fact that 
his great wisdom was looked upon as a gift of God in 
answer to prayer. The mission of the prophets, the apos- 
tles, and of the Lord Jesus himself, was to reveal God to 
men that they might be led to love and obey God. If the 
divine Teacher said to the multitude, " Think not that I 
came to destroy the law, or the prophets ; I came not to 
destroy but to fulfil," it was because the law and the 
prophets testified of God, representing his will in the 
sphere of religious action to men of that earlier day. If 
he said, " I am the light of the world," it was because 
he could also say, " He that hath seen me hath seen the 
Father ; " and " the Son of man came not to be ministered 
to, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many." 
And if he gave a commission to his disciples, it was to preach 
the Gospel — not science, or philosophy, or art — to all 
mankind ; or if he gave a promise of the Holy Spirit, it was 
not that he might guide them into all the truth which 
Copernicus, or Newton, or Harvey, or Faraday, or Darwin 



100 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

might discover : but into all the truth needed by men in 
seeking the way of life. And if we look at the writings 
of Paul, we shall soon learn that it was the Gospel, and 
that alone, which he professed to teach. On that theme he 
spoke with authority, " For I make known to you, brethren, 
as to the Gospel which was preached by me, that it is not 
after man ; for neither did I receive it from man, nor was 
I taught it, but through revelation of Jesus Christ." And 
referring to the Sacred Writings of the Old Testament 
in the verse following my text, he uses this striking lan- 
guage, " Every Scripture inspired of God is also profitable 
for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for discipline, 
which is in righteousness, that the man of God may be 
complete, thoroughly furnished unto every good work." 
Timothy, to whom this was written, was a " man of God " 
in the sense intended by Paul, for he was a man charged 
with the duty of giving himself wholly to the work of 
the ministry, of preaching the word in season, out of sea- 
son ; and every Scripture inspired of God was useful to 
him in such a service. 

But the question may rise to your lips, How many of 
the Sacred Writings were " inspired of God " ? It is a 
fair question, calling for a candid answer ; and if we are 
guided by the teaching of Paul and of Christ, the answer 
must be, every Scripture of the Old Testament. No other 
conclusion can be drawn from their language without 
doing violence to its obvious meaning. Modern scholar- 
ship, though patient and sharp-sighted, has discovered no 
facts directly opposed to this conclusion, no facts which 
justify a belief that either Christ or His apostles doubted 
the inspiration of any book of the Old Testament. 

But what shall we say of Jesus Christ as a critic ? 
Was He simply the child of His times ? Did He bow to 



THE SACRED WRITINGS. 101 

human tradition ? Had He no spiritual insight ? no 
penetration ? no love of truth ? no power to detect and 
expose error ? Is there any reason to question the vera- 
city of Luke, when he says that Jesus at twelve years of 
age was found in the temple, sitting in the midst of the 
doctors, both hearing them and asking them questions ; " 
while " all that heard Him were amazed at His under- 
standing and His answers " ? Is there the least evidence 
or likelihood that His study of the Sacred Writings was 
intermitted so much as a week during the next eighteen 
years ? Or the least reason to imagine that it was not as 
honest and searching, as sagacious and fruitful as that of 
modern critics ? And when, after the long period of prep- 
aration, He was at last engaged in religious teaching, what 
Pharisee or scribe, what Sadducee or lawyer, was able to 
convict Him of ignorance or of sin ? They were amazed 
at His knowledge and put to silence by His wisdom. 
And, without intending to depreciate the learning of 
to-day, I may express my conviction that Jesus Christ 
was a profounder student of the Old Testament than any 
man since His time, and that He had a truer and deeper 
insight into the whole spirit and purpose of that volume 
than has been gained by any scholar of our day. If, then, 
the Old Testament account of the creation, the fall, and 
the deluge gives a correct idea of God's relation to the 
origin of the world and to the early history of mankind, 
Jesus Christ knew this to be the case, and we cannot 
wonder that He used the record as true ; but if that 
account, properly interpreted, does not furnish a correct 
view of God's relation to the earth and man, during the 
first period, we are naturally surprised to find Him treating 
it with honor. And the same may be said of any other 
part of the Old Testament. 



102 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

But this statement is not inconsistent with the use of 
earlier writings or even of select oral traditions by the 
author of Genesis, or of any historical book, nor does it 
affirm the literal accuracy of the narratives in every par- 
ticular. Correctness of moral impression is the vital 
point, whether secured by minute description or by bold 
characterization conveyed by recording a few striking 
deeds. In painting a landscape so as to reproduce by 
means of his picture the impression which that landscape 
makes on the beholder's mind, an artist may not copy 
minutely any of the shrubs or trees, stones or fences, on 
its surface ; he may give no single object the exact size 
or place which it has in nature ; yet we recognize his 
picture as faithful to the original, and as bringing its 
salient points to mind more distinctly than the best 
photograph. In like manner it is conceivable that an 
inspired writer should depict the life of a people by 
means of a few characteristic actions selected out of 
thousands of a similar kind, or even by adding to those 
few actions certain features belonging to other acts of 
like character performed by the people. I do not say 
that this was ever done by the sacred writers, but that it 
might have been done without marring the essential truth 
of history. Yet only by a writer of the highest integrity 
and judgment; only by a writer who was raised above 
the moral plane of flattery or passion, could this liberty 
with facts have been safely taken. 

And is it not -clear that the prophets of Israel were 
men of this rare quality ? Think of Samuel confronting 
the falsehood and disobedience of Saul with the question, 
"What is then this bleating of the sheep in mine ears, 
and the lowing of the oxen which I hear ? " — of Nathan 
pressing home to the conscience of David the lesson of 



THE SACRED WRITINGS. 103 

his parable by the bold sentence, " Thou art the man ; " — 
of Elijah answering Ahab's reproach by the words, " I 
have not troubled Israel, but thou and thy father's 
house ; " — of Micaiah repeating in mockery to the same 
king the lie of the king's favorite prophets, " Go up and 
prosper ; for the Lord will deliver it into the hand of the 
king," but adding the ominous words, " I saw all Israel 
scattered upon the hills as sheep that have no shepherd ; " 
— of Amos crying out to the devotees of the calf-worship, 
" Come to Bethel and transgress, to Gilgal and multiply 
transgression," " ye who turn judgment to wormwood, and 
cast down righteousness to the earth ; " — of Isaiah ad- 
dressing the Jews in terms like these, " Hear the word of 
the Lord, ye rulers of Sodom ! Give ear to the law of our 
God, ye people of Gomorrah," " ye revolt more and more ; 
every head is sick, and every heart faint ; " — of Jeremiah 
saying to the people, " Because your fathers have forsaken 
me, saith the Lord, and have walked after other gods, . . . 
and ye have done worse than your fathers, . . . there- 
fore will I cast you out of this land ; " — and of Ezekiel, 
repeating to the exiles in Babylon God's description of 
their treatment of His messenger and His word, " Lo, 
thou art unto them as a very lovely song of one that hath 
a pleasant voice, and can play well on an instrument ; 
and they hear thy words, but they do them not." Were 
these prophets men that Battered kings or catered for the 
good-will of friends ? Were they mere representatives of 
the people and the age ? outgrowths of the common reli- 
gious life ? Xot so. Their inspiration was from above ; 
they were men of God, men of the Spirit, watchmen, 
seers, reformers, martyrs, anointed by the Holy One to 
keep righteousness and faith alive in the earth. They 
were doubtless influenced greatly by their environment ; 



104 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

the life and language of their times were reflected in their 
teaching ; but " from the shoulder upward " they towered 
above their contemporaries in spiritual insight and fore- 
thought and faith. They were God's ambassadors to 
Israel, and no one can show that they ever maligned the 
good or flattered the bad, that they ever gave a wrong 
impression of men or of nations to those whom they 
addressed, or a wrong view of God's judgment concerning 
the men or the nations spoken of. And this is the all- 
important matter in religious history ; not the number of 
years and. months in a king's reign, not the hour of the 
day when a given event took place, but the character of 
the king's reign, as revealed by his conduct, his moral 
attitude towards God and man. The same is true of a 
people. And, if I am not mistaken, it is precisely this 
essential part of religious history which is least likely to 
be modified or lost by copying and translating. It may 
be purposely changed, to conceal the fault of some hero, 
or to blacken the character of some foe ; and this is some- 
times done in secular history ; but there is no ground for 
supposing that it has been done with the Sacred Writings. 
They not only seem, as we now read them, to have pre- 
served the sayings of the prophets in their moral integrity, 
whether those sayings were severe or gentle, threatening 
or encouraging, but they seem to be no less faithful in 
recording both the good and the bad deeds of Jews as 
well as Gentiles. The heroic valor of David in his early 
life and his noble forbearance towards Saul, the Lord's 
anointed, are set down with no more distinctness than 
his adulterous connection with Bathsheba and his des- 
picable murder of Uriah. Unflinching veracity is a 
marked trait of these historical books, and the statement 
of Josephus, that they were written by Moses and the 



THE SACRED WRITINGS. 105 

later prophets contemporary with the events recorded, has 
too much intrinsic probability to be set aside in view of 
any but the clearest evidence. And when we read the 
last verses of the first book of Chronicles, " Now the acts 
of David the king, the first and the last, behold they are 
written in the book of Samuel the seer, and in the book 
of Nathan the prophet, and in the book of Gad the seer, 
with all his reign and his might, and the times that 
passed over him, and over Israel, and over all the king- 
doms of the countries ; " and the twenty-ninth verse of 
the ninth chapter of Second Chronicles, " Now the rest of 
the acts of Solomon, the first and the last, are they not 
written in the book (or words) of Nathan the prophet, 
and in the prophecy of Ahijah the Shilonite, and in the 
visions of Iddo the seer, concerning Jeroboam, the son 
of Nebat ; " we have a glimpse of historical and biograph- 
ical activity corresponding with the mission of prophets 
as religious teachers, and suggesting the responsible 
sources from which some of their number may have 
drawn the materials for the fragmentary and condensed 
Bible narratives. 

But the limits appropriate to a sermon forbid any 
further discussion of this point. And I am ready to 
adopt the words of Professor Herrick, of the University 
of Ohio, as essentially correct, — namely, that " the Bible 
contains the successive stages of a revelation of God to 
men, in language so guided by him as to convey to its 
hearers the most perfect conceptions consistent with their 
situation and limitations. The humblest seeker need 
make no serious mistake in following its teachings. as a 
guide to conduct and belief; the profoundest sage may 
find in it the stimulus for reflection and research. The 
book is self-consistent in spirit and in purpose from be- 



106 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

ginning to end, although by no means homogeneous. The 
record is illustrated by narratives of failures and suc- 
cesses of man in his strivings after holiness. It records 
his misconceptions and sins, often without comment. It » 
must therefore be examined by modern scholarship with 
a comprehensiveness of view capable of distinguishing 
the inspired record of what man thought, said, and did, 
and what God himself directed and revealed." 

Let me urge you, then, as men who expect to serve 
God in the ministry of reconciliation, — 

1. To examine all facts pertaining to the Bible with 
an open mind, ready to receive the truth, the whole 
truth, and nothing but the truth. It will not be per- 
fectly easy to do this ; but it is safe and honest to do 
it, and the Bible will not suffer in the end through your 
faithfulness. Impatience may urge you to settle ques- 
tions at once ; but reason will tell you that this is often 
impossible, and conscience will tell you that it is wrong. 

2. To search the Scriptures for the light rather than 
for the darkness which they have. We do not think 
much about the spots on the face of the sun, but a great 
deal about the floods of beneficent light and heat that 
issue from it. There are dark spots on its surface, and 
to these some attention may properly be given ; but it 
would be a mistake to think of them as of much use in 
the work of life. And the Sacred Writings are like the 
sun. There are dark places in them, whether due to 
transcription with marginal notes that afterwards found 
their way into the text, or to translation which is never 
absolutely perfect, or to the quality of the original text ; 
but these places make up only a small part of the writ- 
ings in question. We are to study the records chiefly 
for the truth which they reveal, and not for the clouds, 



THE SACRED WRITINGS. 107 

whether dense or rare, that may partly cover that truth. 
I think we should expect to find in the Old Testament 
what Jesus Christ found in it, and in the New Testament 
a still clearer revelation of the same religious truth. 

3. To make use without fear of such knowledge and 
experience as you have, especially if the truth which you 
know has been sufficient to nourish the life of faith in 
other human souls. You cannot wait to become omni- 
scient; to know in part is a distinct feature of probation ; 
and the testimony of Paul concerning himself will be 
verified in your experience. If you defer preaching the 
Gospel until you " understand all mysteries and all 
knowledge," you will do none of it in the present life. 
Besides, I am always afraid of a man to whom the moral 
government of the universe is so simple a matter that he 
can easily tell what God ought to do in every possible 
emergency. Fear not, then, with the love of God in your 
hearts, and after these years of reverent study, to enter 
upon the work to which you are called. May the spirit 
and the word, invoked by prayer and examined with 
diligence, guide you step by step into all the truth which 
is necessary to qualify you still further for the ministry 
of Christ, in these days of questioning and of progress ! 



INSPIRATION OF THE PROPHETS AND 
APOSTLES. 

Introduction. 

I. Reasons for this Study at the present time. 

A CORRECT view of the effect of divine inspiration 
on the teaching of those under its influence is 
extremely desirable: (1) in order that proper confidence 
may be placed in their teaching; (2) in order that defi- 
nite views of Christian truth may be gained from it ; and 
(3) in order that plausible objections to this truth may 
be answered. 

This statement could have been made at any time 
since the Christian religion was first promulgated. But 
it may be made with special emphasis at the present 
time : (1) because the deniers of the authority of inspired 
teaching are now uncommonly numerous and active ; 
and (2) because believers in the authority of inspired 
teaching are divided in judgment as to the range and 
nature of its authority, some thinking that this author- 
ity belongs to all such teaching, and others, that it be- 
longs to such teaching when approved by the Christian 
consciousness. 

II. Reasons for limiting this Study to the Inspiration of the 
Prophets and Apostles. 

1. We have not time enough at our disposal for a 
thorough study of the inspiration of all the sacred 



INSPIRATION OF PROPHETS AND APOSTLES. 109 

writers ; (2) a study of the subject chosen may naturally 
be added to our more general treatment of the larger 
subject; (3) a study of this particular subject will be 
quite as likely to reveal the characteristics of divine in- 
spiration as a study of the larger subject, and it is these 
characteristics which we especially desire to ascertain ; 
and (4) the conclusions reached in a study of the inspi- 
ration of the prophets and apostles will determine in a 
great measure what view should be taken of the inspi- 
ration of the other sacred writers. 

III. Order of Topics in this Study. 

The subject of this course of study may be conven- 
iently treated under three heads or parts : — 

First. The Object sought by the Lord in giving inspi- 
ration to the apostles and prophets. 

Second. The Characteristics of this inspiration in earlier 
and later times. 

Third, The Fruits, both direct and indirect, of this 
inspiration. 

IV. Literature pertaining to the Subject. 

Davidson (S.), " Discourses on Prophecy ; " Fairbairn 
(P.), " Prophecy : its distinctive Nature, special Function, 
and proper Interpretation ; " Smith (R Payne), " Prophecy 
a Preparation for Christ ; " Leathes (S.), " Old Testament 
Prophecy, its Witness of divine Foreknowledge ; " Gifford 
(E. H.), "Voices of the Prophets;" Smith (F. Kobertson), 
"The Prophets in Israel and their Place in History;" 
Orelli (Von C), " Old Testament Prophecy of the Comple- 
tion of the Kingdom of God ; " Kuenen (A.), " The Proph- 
ets and Prophecy in Israel ; " Eiehm (E.), " Messianic 



110 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

Prophecy;" Gloag (P. J.), " Messianic Prophecy ; " Eders- 
heim (A.), "Prophecy and History in relation to the Mes- 
siah ; " Knobel (A.), " Der Prophetismns der Hebraer ; " 
Hofmann (J. C. K), "Weissagung und Erfiillung;" Elliott 
(C), "Old Testament Prophecy;" De Rothschild (C. & A), 
" History and Literature of the Ancient Israelites "(vol. ii.) ; 
Ewald (H.), " Old Testament Prophets " (vol. ii.) ; Savile 
(B. W.), "Fulfilled Prophecy;" Adeney (W. F.), "The 
Hebrew Utopia ; a Study of Messianic Prophecy." 



Part First. 

The Object sought by the Lord in giving Inspiration to the 
Prophets and Apostles. 

According to the testimony of the Scriptures this object 
was the salvation of men, or, in other words, to lead them 
to oecome true servants of God, delighting in his character 
and doing his will. For nothing short of this will insure 
their highest welfare. To know the triune God as infi- 
nitely holy and merciful is their true blessedness. In 
the words of Jesus Christ, this knowledge is life eternal 
(John xvii. 3). 

To establish this view of the object of inspiration we 
appeal (1), to the testimony of Jesus Christ concerning 
the object of his coming into the world ; for it is safe to 
assume that the same object was sought in both cases. 
Jesus said to the Pharisees, " They who jare well need not 
a physician, but they who are sick," and " I came not to 
call righteous men, but sinners" (Matt, ix. 12, 13); also 
to the people, " Come unto me all ye that labor and are 
heavy laden, and I will give you rest " (Matt. xi. 28) ; 
and again, " The Son of man came not to be ministered 



INSPIRATION OF PROPHETS AND APOSTLES. Ill 

to, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for 
many" (Matt. xx. 28). "Ye are not willing to come to 
me, that ye may have life " (John v. 40). " I am the liv- 
ing bread that came clown out of heaven. If any one 
eat of this bread, he will live forever ; yea, and the bread 
which I will give is my flesh, for the life of the world " 
(John vi. 51). "And this is eternal life, that they know 
thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou 
didst send " (John xvii. 3). 

(2) To the testimony of the apostles concerning the 
object of Christ's mission to this world. " God so loved 
the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that every 
one who believes on him should not perish, but have 
eternal life " (John iii. 16). For this verse may, on the 
whole, be referred with some confidence to the apostle who 
wrote the fourth Gospel. " Faithful is the saying, and 
worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the 
world to save sinners " (1 Tim. i. 15). "For there is one 
God, one Mediator also between God and men, the man 
Christ Jesus ; who gave himself a ransom for all " (1 Tim. 
ii. 5, 6). "And there is salvation in no other; for neither 
is there any other name under heaven, that is given 
among men, in which we must be saved " (Acts iv. 12). 
The apostles must have known the object of Christ's 
coming and ministry, and as their testimony agrees with 
his own there is left no place for doubt. The declared 
object of the incarnation, ministry, and death of Jesus 
Christ was the restoration of mankind to spiritual union 
with God. 

(3) To the testimony of prophets and apostles as to 
the purpose of their own ministry (See e. g. Deut. x. 12, 
13; xi. 13, 14; xviii. 18, 19; 1 Saml. xii. 1-25 ; xv. 22; 
2 Saml. xii. 1-7, 13; 1 Kings xviii. 21, 39; Isa. i. 2, 3, 



112 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

11-20 ; lv. 1-3 3). The words of Isaiah lv. 6, 7, may be 
quoted as an example : " Seek ye the Lord while he is to 
be found, call ye upon him while he is near. Let the 
wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his 
thoughts ; and let him return unto the Lord, and he will 
have mercy upon him, and to our God, for he will abun- 
dantly pardon" (See also Acts v. 20, 30-32 ; Eom. i. 16 ; 
2 Cor. v. 20, 21 ; iv. 5, 6 ; Col. i. 22, 23). Thus an angel 
of the Lord said to the apostles, " Go, stand and speak in 
the temple to the people all the words of this life ; " and 
the apostles said to the Sanhedrim, " We ought to obey 
God rather than man. The God of our fathers raised up 
Jesus, whom ye slew, hanging him on a tree. Him did 
God exalt as a Prince and a Savior, with his right hand, 
to give repentance to Israel, and remission of sins." 

(4) To the testimony of prophets and apostles con- 
cerning the object of holy Scripture itself. Thus we read 
of the godly man, that " his delight is in the law of the 
Lord, and in his law doth he meditate day and night " 
(Ps. i. 2), and "The law of the Lord is perfect, restoring 
the soul " (Ps. xix. 7 f.). And again in the New Testa- 
ment: "But do thou abide in the things which thou 
learnedst and wast assured of, knowing from what persons 
thou didst learn; and that from a babe thou hast known 
the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make thee wise to 
salvation, through faith which is in Christ Jesus " (2 Tim. 
iii. 14, 15), with which should be compared the words of 
Christ in John xvi. 7-15 ; for it is clear that sacred writ- 
ings are one part of the fruit of inspiration, and that we 
may safely infer the object of inspiration in general from 
the object sought by Scripture. 

From the passages cited under these four heads we 
conclude, negatively (1), that the principal object of inspi- 



INSPIRATION OF PROPHETS AND APOSTLES. 113 

ration was not the communication of religious knowledge 
to men, though this was often involved in accomplish- 
ing that object, and was sometimes indispensable to it. 
(2) That the principal object of inspiration was, still less, 
the instruction of men in history, natural science, or 
mental philosophy. For such instruction is but remotely 
connected with spiritual renovation. It may be turned to 
good account in impressing religious truth on the mind, 
but it is scarcely necessary for that purpose. 

And, positively, that the principal object of inspiration 
was to increase the moral and religious influence of 
prophets and apostles, in order through them to save 
men. Hence, if we may infer anything as to the nature 
of inspiration in prophets and apostles from the effect 
which it was meant to produce through them on other 
men, it must have been fitted — 

1. To augment their religious knowledge by enabling 
them to apprehend truth adapted to them and to the 
people addressed by them. " As certainly as prophecy is 
a divine word, it always contains divine truth, in so far 
as truth can and ought to be comprehended at the given 
standpoint. All genuine pedagogy takes this course. It 
does not indeed teach the truth from the beginning in 
adequate form, but it never inculcates error as the initial 
stage of higher knowledge " (Orelli, p. 36). Knowledge 
of truth is always a primary source of impression. To 
clarify the spiritual vision of prophets and apostles, and 
at the same time place before their minds some pertinent 
truth, must have been to increase their religious influence 
over men. 

2. To deepen their religious feeling. The action of 
the Spirit of God in their souls must Jiave given impulse 
to conscience, to devout affection, to moral courage, to 

8 



114 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

the will, in order that persuasion might flow from lip 
and pen. This appears to be self-evident. 

3. To secure a popular and impressive style. For no 
other style would have been adapted to move and per- 
suade those who were addressed by prophets and apostles. 
Yet a popular and impressive style is the result of natural 
endowments and of suitable training, as well as of deep 
feeling. It is therefore to be presumed that the Spirit of 
God, when selecting men to be prophets or apostles, took 
account of their natural endowments and early training, 
at least in so far as these were needed for a timely and 
forcible expression of divine truth. 

We are not, then, to be surprised at the boldest figures 
of speech in the language of inspired men. The object of 
their mission would lead us rather to expect every variety 
of style fitted to impress and move the moral and reli- 
gious nature. If there is any difference between the 
language of intellect and the language of feeling, we 
should look for the latter rather than the former in a 
considerable part of the Bible. Both however would be 
in place, according to the special needs of the people in 
their changing conditions. 

Part Second. 

Characteristics of Prophetic and Apostolic Inspiration. 

Our task in this part of the present study is to as- 
certain, if possible, the peculiarities which distinguish 
prophetic and apostolic inspiration from the ordinary 
gracious work of the Spirit. But this task is one of no 
little difficulty : 1st, because their inspiration is nowhere 
carefully explained by them in the Scriptures ; 2d, be- 
cause it cannot be identified with anything in ordinary 



INSPIRATION OF PROPHETS AND APOSTLES. 115 

Christian experience ; and 3d, because the whole Bible 
needs to be examined in order to learn the effects of it. 

Yet something may be learned by considering the fol- 
lowing particulars, viz., the significance of the name 
" prophet " in Hebrew and Greek ; the significance of 
other names given to prophets in Scripture ; the in- 
cidental explanations of the prophetic office or work ; 
the prescribed tests of prophetic inspiration ; the differ- 
ent ways of describing the Spirit's work in the prophet's 
soul ; the actual ministry of the several prophets, in- 
cluding their miracles and teachings ; and the conclu- 
sions of modern interpreters in respect to a prophet's 
office and work. 

In like manner we shall consider the significance of 
the word " apostle " in the New Testament ; the relation 
of the apostles of Christ to other disciples in the first age ; 
th$ promise of Christ to send them the Holy Spirit in 
place of himself ; the recorded fulfilment of that promise 
on the day of Pentecost and afterwards ; the change in 
the apostles by reason of that fulfilment ; the character 
of the apostolic teaching from that time forward ; the es- 
timate put upon the Old Testament by the apostles ; and 
their claim of authority in teaching as compared with 
that of the ancient prophets. 

A. Significance of the Hebrew and Greek words 
represented by the English term " prophets." — Accord- 
ing to Gesenius the Hebrew word nabhi [K'33] signifies 
"one who, impelled by a divine influence or by the 
divine Spirit, rebukes kings and nations, and predicts 
future events. . . . With the idea of a prophet was also 
primarily connected the idea that he spoke not his own 
thoughts, but what he received from God." It is from a 
verb which signifies " to boil up, to boil forth, as a foun- 



116 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

tain ; hence, to pour forth words . . . Niphal, 1, to speak 
under divine influence, as a prophet ; to prophesy. The 
Hebrews used the passive forms, Niphal and Hithpael, 
in this verb, because they regarded the prophets as moved 
by a higher influence, rather than by their own powers. 
. . . This is the usual word for the utterance of the proph- 
ets, whether as reproving the wicked, or as predicting 
future events, or as announcing the commands of God." 
Fiirst defines nabhi, [^33] thus ; " properly, an announcer 
of divine oracles, a prophet" and the verb [*oj] to spring 
forth, to stream forth, to be poured out, to bubble up, of 
inspired human discourse, like the Greek, pew ; hence, to 
discourse, to speak, to propound, to announce. Nifal, to 
manifest oneself as an (inspired) speaker; hence, to 
prophesy, to announce (a communication from God). . . . 
The Nifal form is used in transactions which are carried 
out with impassioned excitement or inspiration, because 
in them activity and passivity are united." On the other 
hand, Dr. Edward L. Curtis says that " the word nabhi, 
is probably best to be connected directly with the As- 
syrian nabti, ' to speak, say, name, appoint,' " which appears 
in the name of the Assyrio-Babylonian god, Nebo, the 
speaker, or Mercury of the gods, who carried their mes- 
sages to men. Moses was thus pre-eminently a prophet, 
Num. xii. 6 so.; Deut. xvii. 15 ; Hos. xii. 13. Moses and 
Christ were the greatest of the prophets. In a strictly 
Biblical and Old Testament sense is Christ called " Our 
Prophet" (The Old Testament Student, Sept. 1886, p. 25). 
Perhaps it is safest to adhere to the common explanation 
given by Gesenius, Fiirst, Knobel, and others. 

Peter may have had in mind the Niphal sense of this 
verb when he wrote : " For no prophecy ever came by the 
will of man ; but men spoke from God, being moved 



INSPIRATION OF PROPHETS AND APOSTLES. 117 

[4>ep6fievoL] by the Holy Spirit" (2 Pet. i. 21.) His lan- 
guage certainly expresses the idea of the Hebrew verb in 
the form generally used to signify an inspired utterance, 
and justifies us in relying upon that form as a clue to the 
nature of inspiration. Three peculiarities of the ancient 
prophets are therefore suggested by their designation : 1, 
that their speech was fervid, eloquent, powerful ; 2, that 
it was occasioned by a divine influence on their souls ; 
and 3, that it represented the mind of God, or the 
Spirit of God, — it was a divine message. 

The designation Nabhi, is applied to Moses (Deut. 
xviii. 15, 18 ; xxxiv. 5 ; Hos. xii. 13), Samuel (1 Sam. iii. 
20; 2 Chron. xxxv. 18), Nathan (2 Sam. vii. 2; xii. 
25 ; 1 Kings i. 8 ; 1 Chron. xvii. 1 ; xxix. 29), Ahijah 
(1 Kings xi. 29; xiv. 2, 18), Shemaiah (2 Chron. xii. 
5, 15), Iddo (2 Chron. xiii. 22 ; xv. 8), Elijah (1 Kings 
xviii. 22, 36; 2 Chron. xxi. 12; Mai. iii. 23), Elisha 
(1 Kings xix. 16; 2 Kings iii. 11; v. 8, 13; vi. 12; 
ix. 1), Jehu (1 Kings xvi. 7, 12), Jonah (2 Kings xiv. 
25), Isaiah (2 Kings xix. 2 ; xx. 1, 11, 14), Jeremiah 
(Jer. i. 5; xx. 2; xxv. 2; xxviii. 5, 10, 11), Habakkuk 
(Hab. i. 1 ; iii. 1), Ezekiel (Ezek. ii. 5 ; xxxiii. 33), Hag- 
gai (Ezra v. 1 ; vi. 14; Hag. i. 1 ; ii. 1), Zechariah (Ezra 
v. 1 ; Zech. i. 1, 7), also to Enoch (Jude 14, the corre- 
sponding Greek word), Abraham (Gen. xx. 7), and an 
old man who is unnamed (1 Kings xiii. 11). 

The Greek noun, irpo^rjr^, is the Septuagint rendering 
of nabhi, and is brought over into English as " prophet." 
In classical Greek it signifies " One who speaks for another, 
especially one who speaks for God, and so interprets his 
will to man" (Liddell & Scott, sub voce). Thus it 
answers to the use of nabhi in Ex. vii. 1. The derivation 
of the word from irpo^pn, suggests the idea of a fore- 



118 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

teller, and this idea is the prevailing one in the English 
word " prophet," which is much more restricted in meaning 
than the word Trpcxfiyrrjs in the Septuagint or classical 
writers. The name " prophets " is given in the New Tes- 
tament to men "who possessed the prophetic gift or 
charisma, imparted by the Holy Spirit to the primitive 
churches. . . . They spoke more [than the " teachers "] 
from the impulse of immediate inspiration, from the 
light of a sudden revelation at the moment. . . . The 
idea of speaking from an immediate revelation seems 
here to be fundamental, as relating either to future 
events, or to the mind of the Spirit in general " (Eobin- 
son, sub voce). Similar is Thayer's definition : " One who, 
moved by the Spirit of God, and hence his organ or spokes- 
man, solemnly declares to men what he has received by in- 
spiration, especially future events, and in partiadar such 
as relate to the cause and Kingdom of God and to human 
salvation!' 

B. The Significance of other Designations applied to 
the Hebrew Prophets. — Three of these are Boeh (p^), 
Chozeh (njn), and Tsopheh (n?*). ' The first two, Bdeh 
and Chozeh, mean essentially the same. They are prop- 
erly translated " seer," and were applied to the prophet 
as one who had peculiar insight imparted to him by the 
Spirit of God. This is Knobel's view. Gesenius and 
Fiirst believe that prophets were called seers, because 
they were instructed by visions from God. " Strictly 
speaking," remarks Professor Green, " the ' prophet ' de- 
notes one who speaks in God's name and by his authority ; 
the ' seer ' one to whom is granted an insight into the will 
and purposes of God." Compare the following passages : 

1 Sam. ix. 9, 19; 1 Chron. ix. 22; xxvi. 28; xxix. 29; 

2 Chron. xvi. 7,10. Tsopheh, "watchman" or "watcher," 



INSPIRATION OF PROPHETS AND APOSTLES. 119 

is commonly regarded as pointing to the nature of the 
service which a prophet was expected to render the 
people. (See Isa. lii. 8; Jer. vi. 17; Ezek. iii. 17; xxxiii. 
7 ; Micah vii. 4.) 

To these may be added certain less characteristic desig- 
nations, e.g. "man of God" (1 Sam. ii. 27 ; 1 Kings xiii. 1). 
This appellation is never given in the Old Testament to 
any but prophets, unless David be regarded an excep- 
tion ; yet David often asked counsel of God, and received 
instruction from him. (See 1 Sam. xxiii. 2 sq. ; xxx. 8 ; 
2 Sam. ii. 1 ; v. 19, 23 sq.) Besides, David was in the 
Spirit when he wrote the 110th Psalm; and doubtless 
the same was true of him whenever he was engaged in 
composing any of the psalms which were given a place in 
the Old Testament canon. The designation is used most 
frequently of Elisha, but also of Moses, of Samuel, of 
Elijah, of Shemaiah, and of certain unnamed prophets 
(e.g. 1 Sam. ii. 27 ; 1 Kings xiii. 1, 4, sq. ; cf. Judges xiii. 6). 
" Servant of Jehovah " (2 Kings ix. 7, xvii. 13 ; 1 Kings 
xviii. 36 ; 2 Kings xiv. 25 ; Isa. xx. 2, 3). Moses is called 
" the servant of God " (1 Chron. vi. 49 ; 2 Chron. xxiv. 9 ; 
Xeh. x. 29), and Daniel likewise (Dan. vi. 20). The two 
expressions, " man of God " and " servant of Jehovah," 
are practically synonymous, and are sometimes applied 
in a more general sense to religious men (Josh. v. 14 sq. ; 
1 Sam. xxv. 39; 1 Pet. ii. 16). "Messenger of Jehovah" 
(Isa. xliv. 26; Hag. i. 13; Mai. iii. 1). The fitness of 
this designation will be perceived by every one. " Man 
of the Spirit" (Hos. ix. 7). The reference in Hosea is 
doubtless to false prophets, but it shows that a prophet 
was supposed to be a man under the special influence of 
God's Spirit. (Cf. Zech. vii. 12.) 

In the light of all these designations, Knobel says : 



120 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

" The prophet is a man gifted with higher intelligence 
and filled with religious inspiration, standing in an imme- 
diate relation to God, and active as a servant of God, in 
behalf of divine and especially theocratic ends." 

C. Incidental explanation of the Office or Work of 
Prophets. — In Exodus iv. 14-16, Jehovah is represented 
as saying to Moses : " Is not Aaron, the Levite, thy 
brother ? I know that he can speak well. . . . Thou shalt 
speak to him and put words in his mouth. And he shall 
speak for thee to the people ; and it shall be that he 
shall be to thee for mouth, and thou shalt be to him for 
God." Again, in Exodus vii. 1, 2, he repeats the same 
thought in fewer words : " See, I have given thee a god 
to Pharaoh ; and Aaron, thy brother, shall be thy prophet. 
Thou shalt speak all that I command thee ; and Aaron 
thy brother shall speak unto Pharaoh, that he send forth 
the children of Israel out of his land." Evidently the 
word " prophet " is here used to denote one who speaks in 
place of another, who is the mouthpiece, the word-bearer 
of another. He is not the author of his own message. 
His authority is the authority of the one for whom he 
speaks. And the same view of a prophet's work is ex- 
pressed in Jeremiah i. 7, 9, and Ezekiel ii. 7 ; iii. 10, 11, 
17 : " But the Lord said unto me, Say not, I am a youth ; 
for whatsoever I command thee thou shalt speak. . . . 
And the Lord put forth his hand and touched my mouth. 
And the Lord said unto me, Behold I put my words in 
thy mouth." So, too, in Ezekiel : " Thou shalt speak my 
words unto them; whether they will hear or whether 
they will forbear." " Son of man, all my words that I 
shall speak unto them, receive in thy heart, and hear 
with thine ears. And go, get thee to the captivity, to 
the children of thy people, and speak to them and tell 



INSPIRATION OF PROPHETS AND APOSTLES. 121 

them : Thus saith the Lord ; whether they will hear or 
whether they will forbear." " I have made thee a watch- 
man unto the house of Israel : and thou shalt hear the 
word at my mouth, and give them warning from me." 
These incidental explanations of prophetic work clearly 
reveal its nature, and confirm the inference drawn from 
the designations applied to this class of men. 

D. Attestation of one's claim to the Office of a Prophet. 
— Jesus Christ represents certain men as saying to him 
at the last day, " Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy by thy 
name, and by thy name cast out demons, and by thy name 
do many miracles ? " To whom he will answer, " I never 
knew you ; depart from me, ye who work iniquity " (Matt, 
vii. 22, 23). These men are supposed to rely upon proph- 
esying and miracles as the evidence of their having been 
accepted servants of Christ. And this is a proof that 
such evidence would be regarded as sufficient by the 
people. But it was not the only evidence possible, for 
the Scriptures specify : — 

1. Miraculous signs (Ex. iv. 1-9 ; 1 Kings xvii. 1 sq., 
xviii. 21 sq.; John iii. 2; v. 36). — To be conclusive, the 
signs must be such as only God could be supposed to 
give. But the evidence afforded by such signs is incon- 
trovertible. 

2. Fulfilment of prediction (Deut. xviii. 21, 22). — With 
this passage, which seems to lay down a general rule, 
compare 1 Kings xvii. 1 ; xviii. 1. Whether Elijah was 
known to be a prophet before his abrupt appearance thus 
described, we cannot tell; but it is safe to assume that 
Ahab knew the reason why a famine was threatened ; 
and it is certain that the fulfilment of Elijah's proph- 
ecy was God's ratification of his office as well as of his 
prediction. 



122 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

3. Consecration to office by a well-known 'prophet. — 
Thus Jehovah said unto Elijah at Sinai : " And Elisha the 
son of Shaphat of Abel-meholah shalt thou anoint to be 
prophet in thy room" (1 Kings xix. 16). The subsequent 
narrative does not speak of Elisha's being " anointed " by 
Elijah ; but it says that on his return from the wilderness 
he found Elisha plowing with twelve yokes before him, 
and went over to him, and "cast his mantle to him" 
(1 Kings xix. 19). Evidently the young man understood 
this act to be symbolical, for after giving a feast to the 
people, "he went after Elijah, and ministered unto him" 
(1 Kings xix. 21). With this narrative we may compare 
the account of the use which Elisha made of Elijah's 
mantle at a later period (2 Kings ii. 13, 14). Nothing 
could be more natural than that God should set men 
apart to the prophetic office, as well as to the kingly (see 
1 Sam. ix. 16 ; x. 1 ; xvi. 12, 13), by means of those who 
were known to be his messengers. 

4. Extraordinary power in preaching religious truth. — 
We mention this with much hesitation, for the only illus- 
tration of it is the case of John the Baptist. (See Matt, 
iii. 2 sq. ; Luke hi. 7-14; John x. 41.) Yet in his case 
there were miraculous signs preceding and following his 
birth which may have been taken into account by the 
people. The gift of effective speech was not, in itself 
alone, proof that one who possessed it was a true prophet 
of the Lord ; but it was at least a minor qualification for 
the prophetic office, and it may have been specially culti- 
vated in the schools of the prophets at Bethel and Gilgal. 

It may also be added, that messages tending to lead 
the people from the service of Jehovah to the service of 
some other supposed god were to be regarded as evidence 
that the bearer of them was a false prophet (see Deut 



INSPIRATION OF PROPHETS AND APOSTLES. 123 

xiii. 1-5). Thus, in considering the claim of any man to 
the authority of a prophet, the people were required to 
scrutinize the object or tendency of his teaching; and 
were forbidden to believe that the true God was ever 
divided against himself or working to overthrow his own 
authority. 

And there were abundant reasons for insisting upon 
these tests or evidences of prophetic standing. For in 
course of time, as might certainly have been expected, 
many false prophets appeared in Israel. (See 1 Kings 
xiii. 11-32, xxii. 6; Isa. ix. 15; Jer. v. 31, xiv. 14 sq., 
xxiii. 15, 16, 25, 26, 32 ; xxvii. 14-16 ; xxviii. 1-17 ; 
xxix. 9, 21; and compare Edersheim, "Prophecy and 
History," pp. 150, 151.) From the narrative in 1 Kings 
xiii. 11-32, it may be seen : (1) That the inspira- 
tion of the ancient prophets was occasional, not con- 
stant. The same thing may be also inferred from what 
is said of the leading prophets of the Old Covenant, as 
Samuel, Elijah, Isaiah, Jeremiah, and others (see 2 Sam. 
vii. 3 s^.). (2) That some of them were men of very 
imperfect morality. The " old prophet " is said by the 
sacred writer to have lied : and there is only too much 
evidence that Elijah, Jeremiah, and Jonah were some- 
times weak and peevish. (3) That in some way inspira- 
tion gave to prophets exceedingly strong evidence that 
their messages were from God. Otherwise it is impos- 
sible to see why " the man of God " should have been so 
severely punished (1 Kings xiii. 21-24). 

From the other passages referred to above we infer : 
(1) That false prophets were, at certain times, numerous 
in Israel. (2) That, speaking generally, they were con- 
scious deceivers, influenced by selfish motives. (3) That 
the people neglected to insist faithfully upon the tests 



124 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

prescribed by the Lord, but listened to false prophets 
with delight, because they prophesied " smooth things." 
Yet (4) that none of their messages are incorporated in 
the Scriptures as true. It is not pretended that any of 
the Major or Minor Prophets belonged to this class. If 
the false prophets wrote anything their writings have 
perished, unless the words of Balaam are to be considered 
an exception. But we think them an exception, because 
Balaam, though a bad man, was taken possession of for 
the time being by the Spirit of God and made to declare 
his will (see Num. 23d and 24th chapters). Many sup- 
pose that the same was true of Caiaphas (John xi. 49). 
The case of the witch of Endor, consulted by Saul, is one 
that is even more doubtful. She may perhaps have 
deceived the king, though her prediction came to pass. 

From the manner in which the prophetic office was 
guarded, and from the stern judgment denounced against 
false prophets, it is safe to infer, (1) that the teaching of 
prophets was considered sacred and authoritative, and ( 2 ) 
that it was rightly considered an expression of the divine 
will. In almost numberless cases the message is described 
as " the word of the Lord " to the prophet or to the people ; 
we think it is never spoken of as containing the word of 
the Lord, as if a part of it might be rejected as human 
while the rest of it must be accepted as divine. 

E. Different ivays of describing the Spirit's Relation to 
Prophets and their Work. — These should be closely ex- 
amined, because they are likely to suggest characteristics 
of prophetic inspiration. 

Notice, then, (1) the expressions which are chosen to 
describe the agency of God in imparting the gift of in- 
spiration. He is said (<x) to give or put his Spirit on the 
prophets (Num. xi. 25, 29 ; Isa. xlii. 1) ; or (&) to pour out 



INSPIRATION OF PROPHETS AND APOSTLES. 125 

his Spirit upon them (Isa. xliv. 3 ; Joel iii. 1, 2, Eng. Ver. 
ii. 28, 29). In such representations the Spirit of God is 
probably conceived of as an influence sent down by him 
upon the souls of chosen men, to qualify them for his 
service. The personality of the Giver, rather than of the 
gift, is suggested by these expressions. But the same 
form of speech is sometimes used when the gift of the 
divine Spirit is made to the people in general, and not 
merely to prophets (e.g. Neh. ix. 20; Ezek. xxxix. 29). 
It is also said (c) that the hand of the Lord was on the 
prophet (1 Kings xviii. 46 ; 2 Kings iii. 15 ; Ezek. i. 3, iii. 
14, 22, viii. 1, xxxiii. 22, xxxvii. 1). "The hand of God " 
represents his power or energy put forth in action, and in 
these passages appears to denote a mighty if not irre- 
sistible influence of his Spirit. 

Notice, also, (2) the expressions which describe the 
action of the Spirit on the prophet's soul. In these the 
action is made prominent rather than the Author of it, 
but they differ very slightly from those noticed under (1). 
The Spirit is said (a) to be or to come upon a prophet 
(Num. xxiv. 2 ; Judges xi. 29 ; 2 Chron. xv. 1, xx. 14). The 
verb used in these and similar places means literally to 
be or to become, but when followed by the preposition 
signifying upon it is properly translated to come or to 
come to be. For the preposition suggests the thought of 
something reaching the object from above. (6) Closely 
connected with this representation, and indeed comple- 
menting it, is another, that the Spirit of God rests upon 
the prophet (Num. xi. 26 ; 2 Kings ii. 15 ; Isa. xi. 2 ; cf. 
John i. 32). Thus the inspiration was not always, if ever, 
a mere lightning flash, which illuminated the prophet's 
mind for an instant and then vanished away, but in most 
cases a more or less permanent influence, though not per- 



126 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

haps, unless in the case of Christ, uniform or uninter- 
rupted or life-long, (c) " The hand of the Lord " is also 
said to have fallen upon the prophet (Ezek. viii. 1, xi. 5). 
This appears to represent the action of the Spirit on the 
prophet's mind as sudden and powerful. It certainly 
points to an influence coming from without and from 
above, and not to an impulse springing up within the 
prophet, or due to his own volition. The same is also 
true of a yet more striking expression : (d) " The Spirit of 
the Lord " is said to rush upon, or come mightily upon 
one (1 Sam. x. 6 ; xi. 6 ; xvi. 13 ; cf. xviii. 10, and Judges 
xiv. 19 ; xv. 14). Yet Saul, David, and Samson were not 
prophets, in the ordinary sense of the word, by reason of 
the divine influence which is said to have thus seized 
them ; and we cannot appeal to the representation as one 
that properly describes the effect of inspiration upon men 
who were called to speak for God. It may have kindled 
enthusiasm, courage, heroism, without qualifying them to 
be spokesmen for God, without giving them any special 
message to the people. Again (e) the Spirit of God is 
said to have clothed itself with the prophet, as with a gar- 
ment (Judges vi. 34 ; 1 Chron. xii. 18 ; 2 Chron. xxiv. 20). 
The figure is very expressive, and would almost justify 
the theory of verbal dictation, if it were the only figure 
in Scripture to set forth the relation of the divine Spirit 
to the prophet's agency. But it is not, and must there- 
fore be interpreted in the light of other figurative expres- 
sions. Yet we may associate with it another biblical 
representation by which the Spirit is said (/) to fill the 
prophet (Deut. xxxiv. 9 ; Micah iii. 8 ; cf. Luke i. 15 ; Acts 
ii. 4 ; iv. 31 ; vi. 3, 5; ix. 17 ; xiii. 9). This representation, 
it will be observed, occurs more frequently in the New 
Testament than in the Old. Is there any reason for this ? 



INSPIRATION OF PROPHETS AND APOSTLES. 127 

Notice (3) the effect of this divine influence upon the 
souls of those subject to it. (a) It incites them to ac- 
tion (Judges xiii. 25 ; Jer. xx. 9). The language of Jere- 
miah concerning himself is stronger than that of the 
writer of Judges concerning Samson ; but this is pre- 
cisely what the circumstances would lead us to expect. 
(b) It lifts them up and bears them away (Ezek. iii. 12, 
14; xi. 1, 24; 1 Kings xviii. 12). In Ezekiel's case the 
uplifting and transporting need not be regarded as phy- 
sical events. If there was any change of place, the 
impulse to it was supernatural, but the movement nat- 
ural. We do not, however, think there was any real 
change of place, for the prophet informs us that the 
spirit brought him " in the vision " into Chaldea. Com- 
pare the narrative of Luke concerning Philip in Acts 
viii. 26, 39, 40, where the language of verse 39 is very 
similar to that of Ezekiel. On the words, " the Spirit 
of the Lord caught away Philip,," Dr. Hackett remarks : 
" The expression asserts that he left the eunuch suddenly, 
under the impulse of an urgent monition from above, 
but not that the mode of his departure was miraculous 
in any other respect." It is of course conceivable that 
Philip was so moved by the Spirit as to be little con- 
scious of ordinary events in going to Azotus. (c) The 
Spirit is represented as speaking in, with, or to them (Num. 
xii. 6-8; 2 Sam. xxiii. 2; 1 Kings xxii. 24; Ezek. ii. 2 ; 
iii. 4 sq. ; 22 sq. ; viii. 3, 5). The usual expression em- 
ployed to characterize a message as being from God is, 
" Thus saith the Lord," or " The word of the Lord came 
unto me," perhaps because thoughts are commonly con- 
veyed from one person to another by means of speech. 
In the first twenty-eight chapters of Isaiah the formula 
appears with slight modifications, as many as forty-one 



128 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

times, and in the writings of Jeremiah and Ezekiel its 
use is probably still more frequent. In the same chap- 
ters of Isaiah the word burden [K»P] is applied nine 
times to the message which the prophet brings from God. 
This word signifies that which is lifted up, and is often 
applied to a threatening prophecy, burdensome alike to 
prophet and people. A clue to its meaning may per- 
haps be found in Jer. xxiii. 33-38 ; but it is sometimes 
used when the prophecy is favorable, (d) The Spirit 
causes them to see visions (Ezek. viii. 1 sq. ; xi. 1 ; xxxvii. 
1 sq. ; xliii. 1 sq. ; Dan. viii. 1 sq. ; Micah iii. 6-8). This 
was a somewhat frequent method of revealing truth, — 
indeed, so frequent and natural that any inspired mes- 
sage might be called a vision (1 Sam iii. 15 ; 2 Sam. vii. 
17 ; Isa. i. 1 ; xxix. 10-12 ; Obad. 1 ; Nah. 1). Visions 
were not the less from God because they were often seen 
by those who were asleep, and hence could be called 
dreams (Num. xii. 6 ; Dan. vii. 1 ; viii. 1, 18 ; Joel ii. 28 ; 
Matt. i. 20; ii. 12, 13, 19, 22; Acts ii. 17). Moreover, 
such dreams were not confined to prophets (Gen. xx. 3 ; 
xxxi. 24; xxxvii. 5, 9, 10; xli. 15, 25; 1 Sam. xxviii. 6; 
1 Kings iii. 5 ; Matt. i. 24; xxvii. 19). 

From these various representations we conclude — 

1. That the influence called inspiration was recognized 
by the prophet as indubitably divine (cf. 1 Sam. iii. 7). 

2. That it generally lifted him above his ordinary 
plane of devotion, conscientiousness, and courage. 

3. That it qualified him to receive truth from God, 
and communicate the same just as God would have it 
communicated then and there, — the best practicable 
teaching. 

4. That the truth entered his mind by means of inner 
faculties, answering to sight, hearing, taste, etc. Whether 



INSPIRATION OF PROPHETS AND APOSTLES. 129 

his physical senses were used is uncertain. Are they 
used in dreams, or in abstract thought ? 

5. That the truth which was thus brought into his 
prepared mind was often well known to him before, and 
perhaps to the people. In such cases, his mission was to 
reiterate and reinforce the truth with all the fervor and 
authority imparted to him by the Spirit. 

6. That still oftener the prophetic message was a re- 
proof of known sins, accompanied with a prediction of 
judgments from God that could only be averted by re- 
pentance. That they could be thus averted was a truth 
almost always understood, if not expressed (Jer. xviii. 
7-10; Jonah iii. 10; iv. 2). More than this, purposed 
judgment was sometimes averted by the intercessions of 
good men (Ex. xxxii. 14). " Nee statim sequitur ut, quia 
propheta prsedixit, veniat quod prsedixit. ISTon enim prse- 
dicit ut veniat, sed ne veniat " (Jerome). 

F. Ministry of the Prophets as described in the Bible. — 
By a close study of prophetic service we may hope to 
ascertain some of the sources and conditions of the influ- 
ence wielded by this order of men. " By their fruits ye 
shall know them," is the testimony of Jesus Christ. This 
too is the honored historical method to which so many 
resort ; and it is desirable to learn by this method what 
was the effect of divine inspiration on the conscientious- 
ness, religious zeal, and courage of the prophets. For 
these moral qualities must have had a great influence on 
their teaching. If they were raised to a high moral and 
religious state, by the Spirit of God, it will be difficult to 
believe them mistaken as to the will of God which they 
were moved to proclaim. The impulsive influence of the 
Holy Spirit must surely be at the same time directive, — 

must move the soul towards truth rather than falsehood. 

9 



130 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

(a) " Enoch walked with God, and was not ; for God 
took him " (Gen. v. 24). This record affirms three things : 
First, that Enoch was a singularly devout and favored 
servant of God during most of his earthly life ; second, 
that his earthly life came to an uncommon, but peaceful 
end ; and third, that this end was effected by his assump- 
tion to God. And this ancient record is beautifully repro- 
duced in Hebrews xi. 5 : " By faith Enoch was translated 
that he should not see death ; and he was not found, 
because God translated him." With these references must 
be associated the language of Jude : " And to these also 
Enoch, a seventh from Adam, prophesied, saying," etc. 
(verses 14, 15.) 

(b) Noah is said to have " found favor in the eyes of 
Jehovah," when the earth was full of wickedness and was 
about to be destroyed by the deluge. Hence the impend- 
ing flood was revealed to him (Gen. vi. 18 sq. ; viii. 15 sq.); 
and after it was past, a promise was made to him that this 
kind of judgment should not be repeated (Gen. ix. 8 sq.). 
His words concerning his sons may also have been in- 
spired (Gen. ix. 25), and according to Peter "he was a 
preacher of righteousness " (2 Pet. ii. 5 ; cf. 1 Pet. iii. 
19, 20). 

(c) Abraham is once called a prophet (Gen. xx. 7), and 
in many places God is said to have revealed to him his 
will (e. g., Gen. xii. 1-7; xiii. 14-17; xv. 1-18, sq. ; xvii. 
1-21; xviii. 13, 14, 26, 32; xxi. 12, 13; xxii. 1, 2, 11, 12, 
16-18). None of the messages which are said to have 
been received from God by Abraham occasion any particu- 
lar surprise, except the command to go and offer up Isaac 
as a burnt-offering (Gen. xxii. 2). How shall this be 
explained ? Not, surely, by denying that the command 
was from God. For there is nothing in the narrative but 



INSPIRATION OF PROPHETS AND APOSTLES. 131 

the nature of the command itself which can justify this 
denial, and in studying the command we should bear in 
mind: (1) That it was given to test and improve the faith 
of Abraham in God. (2) That it was to be revoked as 
soon as his faith had been fully tested. (3) That God 
had given to the patriarch ample proof of his purpose to 
bless Isaac as heir of the promises. (4) That Abraham 
believed in God as One who was able to raise Isaac from 
the dead (Heb. xi. 17-19). (5) That God has a perfect 
right to require the sacrifice of life for moral ends. 

(d) Moses was educated as an Egyptian prince, the 
adopted son of the Pharaoh's daughter ; but after he came 
to manhood, his faith in God and love to God's people were 
so strong that he turned his back on the court (Heb. 
xi. 24), and cast in his lot with the oppressed Hebrews. 
Forty years of shepherd life matured his faith, though it 
made him possibly less confident in himself. But after 
his call to return to Egypt and lead Israel out of bondage, 
he was pre-eminent as a prophet and leader, — 

1. For his faith in Jehovah. Only once does this faith 
seem to have failed (Num. xx. 10-12; xxvii. 14; Deut. 
xxxii. 51). At other times it was exceptionally strong; 
(e. g., Ex. xxxii. 32, 33 ; xxxiii. 12, 23). 

2. For his steadfastness of purpose. As far as we 
know, this was only once shaken by the people (Num. xiv. 
39 ; Deut. ix. 13 f.). 

3. For his self-forgetfulness. His great career was 
thrust upon him (Ex. iii. 11, 13; iv. 1, 10, 13 sq. ; Num. 
xiv. 12 sq.; xxvii. 15-17; xi. 25-29). 

It is difficult to believe that such a man was deceived 
or was a deceiver. If the Pentateuch is at all credible, 
he was what we have said ; and if he was what we have 
said, the substance • of his teaching was divine (comp. 



132 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

Luke xvi. 31). Is there any part of it which must be 
rejected as immoral ? Some answer, " Yes," because, as 
they aver, the laws of Moses provide for (1) domestic 
slavery, (2) free divorce, (3) blood-revenge, and (4) exter- 
mination of the Canaanites. (Ex. xxi. 2-11, 20, 21 ; Deut. 
xv. 16, 17 ; Lev. xxv. 8-13, 39-45 ; Deut. xxiv. 1-4 ; Num. 
xxxv. 6, 11-32 ; Deut. vii. 1-5, 16-26.) But we may look 
upon the first three as evil customs, tolerated but not 
approved, curtailed though not forbidden, because of the 
hardness of the people's hearts (Matt. xix. 8). The fourth 
was necessary and just, for the reasons mentioned in the 
record. (Deut. xviii. 9-12 ; xii. 30, 31 ; xx. 16-18 ; Ex. 
xxiii. 33 ; comp. Gen. xix. 13-16.) As a whole, the laws 
of Moses tended toward perfect morality in conduct ; and 
in no case, when properly interpreted in the light of 
existing usages, did they encourage wickedness. "Even 
the wars of extermination were the expression in act of 
the utter antagonism between good and evil, — the cause 
of God and that of his enemies. And when Saul spared 
Agag, it was from no excess of charity, no glimpse of a 
higher morality ; it was an act of moral weakness " ( Lux 
Mundi, p. 73). 

But does not the law in Deuteronomy differ from that 
in Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers? Certainly not in 
principles, and in details no farther than the changed 
circumstances had in mind seemed to require. But we 
cannot treat this question thoroughly, without discussing 
the principal points concerning the authorship of the 
Pentateuch, which is foreign to our purpose. We assume, 
and in our opinion on sufficient grounds, that the legisla- 
tion of the Pentateuch is substantially Mosaic, and con- 
nect it therefore with the prophet and lawgiver of that 
name. 



INSPIRATION OF PROPHETS AND APOSTLES. 133 

(d) Deborah is called a " prophetess " (Judges iv. 4), and 
through her God appears to have predicted the deliver- 
ance of Israel from Jabin and to have prescribed the 
plan of campaign (Judges iv. 6-9). After the fulfilment of 
this prediction in the way pointed out, Deborah and 
Barak are said to have sung a triumphal ode, preserved 
in the fifth chapter of Judges. In this ode a blessing is 
pronounced on Jael, the wife of Heber, for slaying Sisera 
in her tent. Is it credible that the Spirit of God ap- 
proved her act ? In answering this question we must 
bear in mind (1) that Jabin had " mightily oppressed " 
Israel during twenty years (Judges iv. 3). (2) That the 
Kenites were a nomadic and apparently ascetic tribe, 
dwelling in tents (see 2 Kings x. 15-17, 23 sq. ; 1 Chron. 
ii. 55 ; Jer. xxxv. 6, 7), and probably worshippers of Je- 
hovah. (3) That they were allied to Israel through 
Abraham's marriage of Keturah and Moses' marriage of 
Jethro's daughter (Gen. xxv. 1 ; Ex. ii. 15, 16 ; Judges i. 
16 ; iv. 11). (4) That they seem to have been almost 
always friendly to Israel, — a fact which Sisera doubtless 
knew. Yet "there was peace between Jabin the king 
of Hazor and the house of Heber the Kenite " (Judges iv. 
17). (5) That the age was one of violence and blood. 
The entire book of Judges is evidence of this. (6) The 
Song of Deborah need not be understood to approve 
every feature of Jael's act, but only, at most, the patriotic 
and religious intent of it. In a similar way the faith of 
Eahab is commended in Heb. xi. 31, though it is unne- 
cessary to suppose that the sacred writer believed her 
conduct in all respects right. The revelation of God's 
will was progressive, and in every case adapted to the 
habits and moral condition of those addressed. Says 
Arnold of Rugby : " The spirit of the commendation of 



134 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

Jael is that God allows largely for ignorance where he 
finds sincerity ; that they who serve him honestly up to 
the measure of their knowledge are, according to the 
general course of his providence, encouraged and blessed." 

(e) Samuel, next to Moses, was the most efficient proph- 
et in Israel. Called to this service in early life, he was 
sole judge of the tribes for many years. He inducted 
into office the first king of Israel, and when that king 
proved disobedient to God, anointed David his successor. 
Finally, he established schools in which young men 
were trained for prophetic service. How, then, did he 
bear himself under the influence of the Spirit ? Was 
he endued with a power from on high which impelled 
and directed him aright in his work ? Or was he not ? 

Upon a careful study of the record it will be evident : 
(1) That, under the influence of the Spirit, he was a man 
of great moral courage (1 Saml. iii. 11-18; xiii. 13, 14; 
xv. 15, 17, 18, 22, 23 sq.). (2) That he was a man of 
the highest integrity, sincere, plain-spoken, incorruptible 
(1 Saml. xii. 1-5, 13-15, 20-22 ; xv. 22). (3) That he 
was a man of uncommon prayerfulness (1 Saml. vii. 5, 8, 
9; viii. 6, 21; xii. 17-19, 23). 

If then any doubt is entertained concerning the effect 
of divine inspiration on the teaching of Samuel, that 
doubt must spring from the nature of the teaching and 
not from the character of the prophet. For the whole 
record bears testimony to his integrity and devotion. 
Nor is there any evidence that he was self-deceived or 
fanatical. Some of the messages which he brought from 
God were stern (e. g. 1 Saml. xv. 3) ; but were any of 
them unjust? Was the command to destroy Amalek 
utterly, inconsistent with the goodness of God ? If so, 
was not the destruction of Sodom or of Pompeii equally 



INSPIRATION OF PROPHETS AND APOSTLES. 135 

inconsistent with that goodness ? The only difference 
between the two cases is simply this, that in one God 
made use of physical forces, and in the other of men, to 
destroy the wicked. And it would not be hard to show 
that, if the children of Israel were to do anything as a 
nation in the service of God, they must be taught to 
conquer enemies who could not be won. The neighbor- 
ing Amalekites appear to have been vicious and im- 
placable, and we have no right to assume that their 
utter overthrow and extinction were either unjust or 
unmerciful. 

(/) Nathan. The career of this prophet is briefly de- 
scribed (2 Saml. vii. 2-17 ; xii. 1-14, 25 ; 1 Kings i. 11 sq., 
22 sq., 34 sq. ; 1 Chron. xxix. 29 ; 2 Chron. ix. 29) ; but 
what is said gives the reader a high opinion of his char- 
acter and sagacity. Especially skilful, and at the same 
time bold and true, was his course with David after the 
king's great sin (2 Saml. xii. 1-14). It seems probable 
that he was instructed by Samuel and endorsed by him 
as a genuine prophet. He lived far on into the reign of 
Solomon, perhaps to its close, though this is scarcely 
probable. His principal writings seem to have been 
biographies of David and Solomon, or annals of their 
reigns. And it has been well said, " that the biography 
of David and Solomon by Nathan is, of all the losses 
which antiquity sacred or profane has sustained, the 
most deplorable " (Diet, of the Bible). There are no good 
reasons in the known life or teaching of Nathan to call 
in question the truth of his messages from the Lord. 

(g) Gad was another prophet or seer in the reign of 
David (1 Saml. xxii. 5 ; 2 Saml. xxiv. 12-14, 18, 19 ; 
1 Chron. xxi. 9 sq. ; xxix. 29 ; 2 Chron. xxix. 25), but the 
notices of his life are likewise brief. Yet brief as they 



136 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

are, they justify us in believing him to have been a true 
servant of God, and his communication from the Lord 
genuine. Very interesting is the language of 1 Chron. 
xxix. 29, " Now the acts of David the king, the first and 
the last, behold, they are written in the history (words) of 
Samuel the seer, and in the history (words) of Nathan 
the prophet, and in the history (words) of Gad the 
seer." Interesting too is the statement in 2 Chron. xxix. 
25, that King Hezekiah set " the Levites in the house of 
the Lord with cymbals, with psalteries, and with harps, 
according to the commandment of David and of Gad the 
king's seer, and Nathan the prophet; for the command- 
ment was of the Lord by his prophets." It is, therefore, 
reasonable to ascribe to Gad as high a character and 
position as we ascribe to Nathan. 

Not much is recorded concerning Ahijah, the Shilonite, 
(1 Kings xi. 29 sq. ; xiv. 2), Shemaiah, the man of God, 
(1 Kings xii. 22; 2 Chron. xi. 2; xii. 15), and Iddo, the 
seer, (2 Chron. ix. 29 ; xii. 15 ; xiii. 22). It is however, 
worthy of remark that Shemaiah and Iddo wrote narra- 
tives of the kings under whom they lived, — narratives 
that were evidently known to the writer of the Chronicles, 
and were probably consulted in preparing his narrative. 

(h) Elijah was a prophet of extraordinary character 
and career. "His rare, sudden, and brief appearances, 
his undaunted courage and fiery zeal, the brilliancy of 
his triumphs, the pathos of his despondency, the glory of 
his departure, and the calm beauty of his reappearance 
on the Mount of Transfiguration, throw such a halo of 
brightness around him as is equalled by none of his 
compeers in the sacred story" (Smith's Diet, of Bible, 
Art. Elijah). 

Elijah met Ahab, the wicked king of Israel, at four 



INSPIRATION OF PROPHETS AND APOSTLES. 137 

different times, (1) before the drought and famine (1 Kings 
xvii. 1 sq.) ; (2) after the drought had continued more 
than three years (1 Kings xviii. 17, 18) ; (3) on Carmel 
with the people and Baal-priests (1 Kings xviii. 20 sq., 41) ; 
(4) after Xaboth's death (1 Kings xxi. 17-24). With Ahi- 
jah, the son and successor of Ahab, he seems to have met 
but once (2 Kings i. 15-17). And to Jehoram, the apostate 
son of Jehoshaphat, he sent a letter denouncing the judg- 
ment of God upon him (2 Chron. xxi. 12-15). These were 
the great public acts of his ministry. Of miracles in pri- 
vate only a few are recorded (1 Kings xvii. 6, 13-24 ; xix. 
6-8 ; 2 Kings ii. 8), but they were beneficent and striking. 
Notice (1) the bringing of food by ravens (1 Kings xvii. 6) ; 
(2) the constant replenishing of the meal and oil (1 Kings 
xvii. 16) ; (3) the resuscitation of the widow's dead son 
(1 Kings xvii. 17-23) ; (4) the cake and flask of water 
brought by an angel (1 Kings xix. 5-8) ; and (5) the part- 
ing of the waters of the Jordan when smitten by Elijah 
(2 Kings ii. 8). 

It is worthy of remark that James (v. 17, 18) repre- 
sents the withholding of rain during three years and six 
months as an answer to Elijah's prayer, and the giving 
of rain at the close of that terrible drought as likewise 
an answer to his prayer. These statements are entirely 
credible, though the Old Testament nowhere suggests the 
former, and only doubtfully the latter (see 1 Kings xviii. 
1, and 41-44). But they agree perfectly with all we 
know of the prophet's character, and are very suggestive 
of the incompleteness of the narrative in the books of 
Kin^s. 

Brief as the story of Elijah's work is, it warrants a 
belief that he had extraordinary qualifications for it. 
Physically, mentally, and religiously he was fitted for his 



138 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

task. His was a very strange and imposing figure. Un- 
der the influence of the Spirit of God he was capable of 
most decisive action. His first appearance to the king 
seemed like a thunderbolt out of a clear sky. It was a 
time when apostasy must be confronted with judgment. 
Aliab and Jezebel, defying the power of Jehovah, had 
openly set up the worship of Baal and Ashtoreth in the 
northern kingdom. Men who served the Lord were in 
mortal terror, and paid their vows to him in secret. This 
fact presupposes relentless persecution on the part of the 
rulers who introduced the new religion. No wonder, 
then, that a prophet stern and terrible, of few words and 
mighty deeds, was selected for such a crisis. The pro- 
priety of his bearing must be judged by the work which 
was needed at that time. 

There is no reason to doubt the integrity, veracity, or 
sincerity of Elijah. If the events recorded really took 
place, he was beyond question God's messenger to Aliab 
and the people. The very weakness of his faith when 
fleeing into the desert from the fury of Jezebel, is an argu- 
ment for the truth of the narrative, and for the inspiration 
of the prophet on other occasions. 

But Elijah is accused of being bloodthirsty in two in- 
stances, namely, when he slew the priests of Baal at the 
foot of Carmel (1 Kings xviii. 40), and when he called 
down fire from heaven to consume the soldiers sent by 
the king to take him by force (2 Kings i. 10, 12). In 
answer to this accusation, it may be said, first, that the 
prophet is not represented as having been influenced on 
either occasion by feelings of personal ambition or revenge ; 
secondly, that in both instances he was sustained by the 
action of Jehovah ; and, thirdly, that the despised authority 
of the true God seems to have been thus vindicated in 



INSPIRATION OF PROPHETS AND APOSTLES. 139 

the only way which would have been then effectual. 
Says Kitto : " The awful destruction by fire from heaven 
— that is, we suppose, by lightning - — at the word of 
Elijah, of the two first parties sent to apprehend him, 
must have tended powerfully to impress upon the nation 
the fact that the Lord still asserted his right to reign 
over them, and would be known to them in his protesting 
judgments, since they would not know him in his mercies. 
Elijah's cheerfully going with the third party, the leader 
of which approached him with humble entreaties, must 
have suggested that the door to those mercies was still 
open to all who becomingly approached it. This was 
practical preaching, of the kind that this people could 
most easily understand." Would any one have charged 
the prophet with being blood-thirsty, if he had called to his 
defence a body of heroic men and slain the troops that 
came to seize him ? We think not. Why then should 
he be stigmatized as cruel, because he called upon God to 
defend him ? 

(i) Micaiah was a contemporary of Elijah, though it is 
not said that they ever met. All that we know concern- 
ing him is contained in 1 Kings xxii. 8, 14-28, and 2 Chron. 
xviii. 7, 13-27. But the passage in Chronicles repeats 
almost verbally the one in Kings. The reluctance of 
Ahab to consult Micaiah, and his reason for that reluct- 
ance, are powerful testimonies in the prophet's favor. He 
was no courtier, but a servant of the Lord, and so, natu- 
rally enough, he had often prophesied evil rather than 
good respecting the king. His words on the occasion 
described in 1 Kings xxii. were first ironical, and under- 
stood by Ahab to be so, then afterwards sincere but 
ominous. In a striking, dramatic form of representation, 
he declared that God was using a lying spirit in the 



140 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

king's prophets to bring about his death at Eamoth 
Gilead. He would be slain because it was the will of 
the Lord that he should perish ; but his going up to the 
war was due to the false predictions of his prophets. 

(j) Elisha seems to have been a young man of substance 
when he was called by Elijah, at God's command, to be 
his attendant and successor (1 Kings xix. 16, 19-21). 
In response to the call he promptly forsook his business 
and became the prophet's minister. Why he was thus 
associated with the older prophet a number of years can 
only be conjectured. He could probably be of some ser- 
vice to Elijah (Luther needed his Melanchthon) as Elijah 
could be of much service to him (Melanchthon needed 
Luther). But he does not appear to have performed any 
strictly prophetic work until Elijah had been taken up. 
In 2 Kings iii. 11, he is described as one "who poured 
water on the hands of Elijah." 

Elisha's career as a prophet was distinguished by the 
number and character of the miracles attending it. They 
were as follows : 1. dividing the waters of the Jordan 
(2 Kings ii. 14) ; 2. healing the fountain near Jericho 
(2 Kings ii. 21, 22) ; 3. rending of forty-two children by 
she-bears (2 Kings ii. 24) ; 4. water from the way of 
Edom (2 Kings iii. 20) ; 5. increase of oil in the widow's pot 
(2 Kings iv. 2-7) ; 6. bringing to life the Shunamite's son 
(2 Kings iv. 33-36) ; 7. poison neutralized by putting 
meal in the pot (2 Kings iv. 41) ; 8. loaves multiplied, 
twenty for a hundred men (2 Kings iv. 43, 44) ; 9. cleans- 
ing Naaman's leprosy (2 Kings v. 10, 14) ; 10. Gehazi smit- 
ten with leprosy (2 Kings v. 27); 11. axe-head of iron 
made to swim (2 Kings vi. 5-7) ; 12. eyes of Elisha's ser- 
vant opened (2 Kings vi. 17) ; 13. Syrian army blinded 
(2 Kings vi. IS); 14. man raised to life by touching 
Elisha's bones (2 Kings xiii. 21). 



INSPIRATION OF PROPHETS AND APOSTLES. 141 

If we examine the record to ascertain what kind of 
messages he brought from God, they will be found to 
have been, for the most part, predictions of particular 
events, e.g.: 1. healing of the waters at Jericho (2 Kings 
ii. 21); 2. trenches to be filled with water without rain 
(2 Kings iii. 17) ; 3. delivery of the Moabites into the hands 
of Israel and Judah (2 Kings iii. 18) ; 4. increase of the 
widow's oil (2 Kings iv. 4) ; 5. birth of a son to the Shu- 
namitess (2 Kings iv. 16) ; 6. sufficiency of bread for the 
people (2 Kings iv. 43) ; 7. cleansing of Naaman in Jordan 
(2 Kings v. 8, 10) ; 8. punishment of Gehazi by leprosy (2 
Kings v. 27) ; 9. place of secret camps of Syrians (2 Kings 
vi. 9) ; 10. unseen defenders asserted (2 Kings vi. 16) ; 

11. way for the blinded Syrians to go (2 Kings vi. 19); 

12. king's coming to slay Elisha (2. Kings vi. 32) ; 13. abun- 
dant food on the morrow (2 Kings vii. 1) ; 14. unbelieving 
captain's death before eating this food (2 Kings vii. 2) ; 

15. approach of a seven years' famine (2 Kings viii. 1); 

16. death of Ben-hadad (2 Kings viii. 10); 17. reign and 
evil-doing of Hazael (2 Kings viii. 12, 13) ; 18. destruction 
of Ahab's house by Jehu (2 Kings ix. 6-10) ; 19. three 
victories only by Israel over Syria (2 Kings xiii. 15-19). 

It has been said that many of the predictions and 
miracles of Elisha are too insignificant morally, if not 
essentially, to be ascribed to God. It is degrading to 
God to suppose him the author of them. " But if this 
degradation is inherent in false worship, it is no less a 
principle in true religion to adjust itself to a state of 
things already existing, and out of the forms of the alien 
or the false to produce the power of the true. Thus 
Elisha appears to have met the habits of his fellow- 
countrymen " (McClintock and Strong). 

In looking at the prophetic work of Elisha as compared 



142 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

with that of Elijah, it is important to bear in mind, first, 
the changed religious condition of the people. The battle 
with avowed heathenism was fought by Elijah, and a 
real victory gained. Jehovah was known by all Israel to 
be mightier than Baal. The false religion was in real 
disgrace, however strongly any of the people might be 
inclined to favor it. Secondly, the change of dynasty. A 
large part of Elisha's prophetic activity was under Jehu 
and persons of his family. But Jehu was anointed 
king by a young man sent from Elisha, and his first 
effort was to put down the family of Ahab and the wor- 
ship of Baal. He professed and perhaps cherished great 
zeal for Jehovah, though maintaining the calves at Bethel 
and Dan. He and his family always sought to be on 
friendly terms with Elisha, and Elisha is believed to have 
exercised his prophetic gift forty-five years under Jehu, 
Jehoahaz, and Joash. Timidly, the natural disposition of 
Elisha was probably gentle, while Elijah's was stern. 
The younger prophet appears to have had property, 
and to have lived much of the time in cities, while the 
older prophet was apparently a man of the field and 
forest, indifferent to the comforts of life. Each was 
adapted to the work assigned him by the Lord, but Elisha 
had not the moral grandeur and force of his master. Yet 
we discover no traces of failure on his part in doing the 
work to which he was called. 

The only serious criticisms of his conduct are founded 
on the narratives in 2 Kings ii. 23, 24, and in 2 Kings vi. 
19, which may be briefly considered. In the former pas- 
sage, it is said that, " as he went up to Bethel, . . . there 
came forth young lads out of the city, and mocked him 
. . . And he turned back, and looked on them, and cursed 
them in the name of Jehovah. And there came forth 



INSPIRATION OF PROPHETS AND APOSTLES. 143 

two she-bears out of the wood, and tore of them forty and 
two boys" (Conant's version). Is it not morally certain 
that the prophet was irritated and vengeful on this oc- 
casion ? Our judgment of his course should take into 
account the following particulars: 1. That the children 
were from Bethel where the calf worship was centralized. 
2. That their mockery was bitter and open, representing, 
no doubt, the popular feeling of the place. 3. That this 
was Elisha's first appearance, as an independent prophet, 
where idolatry reigned (comp. Acts v. 5-6). 4. That his 
invoking the judgment of Jehovah upon the mockers 
seems to have been prophetic. 5. That with our imper- 
fect knowledge of the circumstances, we cannot safely 
condemn the prophet's action as unwise or harsh, though 
it would seem to be so in our day. 

In the latter passage, Elisha is represented as saying 
to the blinded Syrians in Dothan, where they had come 
to seize him by force, " This is not the way, neither is this 
the city ; follow me and I will bring you to the man 
whom ye seek. And he led them to Samaria." On this 
narrative we submit the following remarks : 1. That the 
blinded Syrians could not identify Elisha in Dothan. 2. 
That he was under no obligation to make himself known 
to them there. 3. That Dothan was not the city where 
he would do this, or where they would find him. 4. That 
he promised to lead them to the man whom they sought, 
and did so, though in a place of his own selection. 5. That 
when this had been done, he dealt with them kindly 
and, indeed, generously ; and 6. That his course appears 
to have been sanctioned at every step by the Lord. It is 
also conceivable, that Elisha's words to the Syrian bands 
were uttered in a tone of bold irony, which they dared 
not resent or disobey, though they were not deceived by 



144 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

them. Compare Elisha's words to Hazael (2 Kings viii. 
10). " Go, and say to him, Thou wilt certainly recover ; 
but Jehovah has showed me that he will surely die." 
The first part is ironical, being the words which Hazael 
would report, and which would have been true so far as 
the effect of the king's sickness was concerned ; and the 
second is sadly sincere, because Jehovah had revealed to 
the prophet Hazael's treachery, which was to effect the 
king's death. We follow the most obvious sense of the 
Hebrew in our translation of the verse. 

The most surprising miracle connected with Elisha is 
described in 2 Kings xiii. 21: "And it came to pass as 
they were burying a man, that, behold, they spied a band ; 
and they cast the man into the sepulchre of Elisha ; and 
the man came and touched the bones of Elisha, and he 
revived and stood up on his feet." On this narrative 
Dr. Conant writes : " Compare the miracles of healing 
wrought by the touch of handkerchiefs and aprons, from 
the person of the apostle Paul (Acts xix. 11, 12). .". . 
In this case, there was a fitting occasion for miraculous 
agency, to perpetuate the influence of Elisha's teaching 
and example." " No doubt," says the Speaker's Commen- 
tary, " the primary effect was greatly to increase the 
reverence of the Israelites for the memory of Elisha, to 
lend force to his teaching, and especially to add weight to 
his unfulfilled prophecies, as that concerning the coming 
triumphs of Israel over Syria. In the extreme state of 
depression to which the Israelites were now reduced, a 
very signal miracle may have been needed to encourage 
and reassure them." 

(Jc) Jonah must have entered upon his prophetic work 
either before, or during the first part of, the reign of 
Jeroboam II., king of Israel, say between 820 and 780 



INSPIRATION OF PROPHETS AND APOSTLES. 145 

before Christ, though the exact time cannot be ascertained. 
For it is written in 2 Kings xiv. 25, that " he [Jeroboam 
II], restored the border of Israel from the entering in 
of Hamath unto the sea of the Arabah, according to the 
word of Jehovah, the God of Israel, by the hand of his 
servant, Jonah, the son of Amittai, the prophet, of Gath- 
hepher." 

Yet the distinctive and remarkable service of Jonah 
was that of going to Xineveh, a heathen city, and warn- 
ing the people of its speedy destruction. This service he 
was most unwilling to perform, chiefly, it appears, (Jonah 
iv. 2) because he imagined that his preaching might lead 
to the repentance and deliverance of the Xinevites, and 
so perhaps to his own disgrace. Strangely enough he 
attempted to flee from the presence of Jehovah, — as if 
the Spirit of God had left him to fall into the heathen 
error of fancying that Jehovah was only a local divinity 
from whose sway he could escape (see John vii. 17, and 
consider what is implied by this saying of Jesus). But 
the prophet soon learned his mistake, and by a singular 
miracle was preserved alive, and sent to Xineveh to 
deliver God's message. The people were greatly moved 
by his preaching, and, as they repented and called upon 
God for mercy, the destruction of Xineveh was postponed. 
This filled the prophet's soul with bitterness ; but the 
Lord condescended to teach him the unreasonableness of 
his anger (Jonah iv. 1-11). 

That the book of Jonah is a piece of true history, and 
not an allegory, may be inferred, (1) from the references 
to it in the teaching of Christ (Matt. xii. 39-41 ; xvi. 4 ; 
Luke xi. 29-30); (2) from the prima facie import of the 
book itself; (3) from the improbability that a Hebrew 
writer would ascribe such waywardness to a true prophet 

10 



146 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

in an allegory ; (4) from the want of any motive for such 
an allegory in the known belief of Israelites ; and (5) 
from the fact that there was a prophet of that very name. 
If now, as may be assumed, the book of Jonah was 
written by the prophet himself, it should be noticed : — 

1. That it seems to be a perfectly honest narrative. In 
this respect it resembles the four Gospels. The prophet 
does not spare himself, but describes his own disobedience, 
wrath, bitterness, and despondency, without any percepti- 
ble effort to make them appear less sinful than they were. 

2. That it shows the mercy of God towaid the heathen, 
or rather towards all mankind. The lesson of the book 
in this respect is profoundly Christian. J onah was sent 
on a mission which no one could discharge with satisfac- 
tion who did not love his enemies. 

3. That it illustrates the truth afterwards so clearly 
taught by Jeremiah (xviii. 7-10 also xxvi. 2 sq., 18, 19 ; 
xxxvi. 2, 3), that many of the predictions of God should 
be interpreted as conditional, not absolute, as founded on 
the assumption that present states of heart and life con- 
tinue unchanged. This truth seems to have been well 
understood by the prophets from the time of Moses 
(Deut. xxx. 10 sq.). Compare Orelli (Von. C.) " Old Testa- 
ment Prophecy," etc. p. 51; Briggs (C. A.) "Messianic 
Prophecy," p. 58. 

(I) Isaiah prophesied in the days of Uzziah (who reigned 
fifty-two years), Jotham (sixteen years), Ahaz (sixteen 
years), and Hezekiah (twenty -nine years), kings of Judah. 
How long before the death of Uzziah (Isa. vi. 1) he began 
to prophesy we are not told, but reference is made (in 2 
Chron. xxvi. 22) to a history which he wrote of Uzziah's 
reign. If his prophetic work began three years before 
Uzziah's death and continued through the whole of Heze- 



INSPIRATION OF PROPHETS AND APOSTLES. 147 

kiah's reign, it covered a period of not less than sixty -five 
years, and he must have lived to the age of eighty-five or 
ninety. His character was noble. His bearing appears 
to have been worthy of his office (Lsa. vii. 3-17 ; 2 Kings 
xix. 2-7, 20-34; lsa. xxxvii. 6, 7, 21-35 ; xxxviii. 1-8, 21). 
His spiritual preparation for that office may best be in- 
ferred from the language of lsa, vi. 5 sq., and the character 
of the people to whom he was sent with the word of the 
Lord from the later verses of the same chapter. This 
chapter is supposed by many to be a description of his 
first call to the prophetic office, but it is considered by 
others a renewed and solemn consecration to that office. 
In either case, it powerfully depicts the holy majesty of 
Jehovah, the spirit of penitence and obedience in the 
prophet, and the hard task assigned to him by the Lord. 
He W T as virtually informed that only a small part of the 
people (a tenth) would listen to the word of the Lord : 
the greater part would be hardened by it. Yet, like 
Ezekiel at a later date, he must declare the messages 
entrusted to him whether men would hear or forbear. 
And this he did. His prophecies are of such a character 
as to forbid the thought of misrepresentation on his part, 
They inculcate the highest integrity and faith in God. 
If there is any one part of the Old Testament which rises 
more nearly to the plane of the New Testament than the 
rest, it is " the vision of Isaiah." We have therefore 
ample reason to believe his testimony when he claims to 
have had his messages from the Lord. 

Isaiah was not a miracle-worker, like Elijah or Elisha ; 
but on one occasion (see 2 Kings xx. 1 1) a remarkable " sign " 
was granted to king Hezekiah in answer to the prophet's 
request ; for God, it is said, " brought the shadow ten 
steps backward by which it had gone down on the dial 



148 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

of Ahaz." No miracle can be explained ; but we may 
fairly object to the assertion, that the sun went back in 
the sky, — or that the rotary motion of the earth was re- 
versed, — because the shadow went back on the steps. 
We do not know how the shadow was made to go back, 
but if there was no miracle in nature at the time, if only 
a very rare phenomenon was revealed to the prophet, that 
it might be a sign to the king, the following explanation 
is possible. In certain uncommon states of the atmos- 
phere false suns are seen, east or west of the real sun. 
If such an event occurred at the time referred to, and the 
light from the real sun and from its western image had 
been intercepted by a cloud in the lower air, while the 
light from the eastern image met with no obstruction, 
the shadow on the dial would have gone back, as the 
record declares. We are indebted to a writer in the " Sun- 
day School Times " for this explanation of the sign given 
to Hezekiah. The properly miraculous element in the 
transaction was the revelation to the prophet of the very 
unusual phenomenon about to appear. (See also note on 
verse ix. in " The Bible Commentary.") 

(in) Jeremiah was a priest whose home was at Anathoth, 
about three miles N. 1ST. E. of Jerusalem. In early life 
(but how early we cannot tell) he was called to serve 
God as a prophet. But he was reluctant to obey the call. 
The times were out of joint. The southern kingdom was 
in a disordered condition, verging towards overthrow. 
The people of it were for the most part idolatrous, un- 
believing, licentious. They would not hearken to the 
word of the Lord, or trust in his power to deliver them 
from their enemies. A true prophet would therefore. 
bring them no welcome message. His words would pro- 
voke anger and violence. This Jeremiah probably fore- 



INSPIRATION OF PROPHETS AND APOSTLES. 149 

saw. At any rate he shrank from the service proposed, 
declaring his unfitness for it in words similar to those 
used by Moses : " Alas, Lord God, I cannot speak ; for 
I am a child " (Jer. i. 6). But the Lord insisted, saying, 
" Thou shalt go to whomsoever I shall send thee, and 
whatsoever I shall command thee, thou shalt speak. . . 
Behold I have put my words in thy mouth : see, I have 
this day set thee over the nations and over the kingdoms, 
to pluck up and to break down, and to destroy and to 
overthrow, to build and to plant" (i. 7-10). 

A careful study of the book of Jeremiah will lead to 
the followino- conclusions as to himself : — 

(1) That he was a man of keen sensibility, deeply 
affected by his own sufferings and by those of the people. 

(2) That he was disappointed at the fruitlessness of 
his ministry, and at God's neglect to vindicate him by 
miracle or otherwise. 

(3) That he was nevertheless persistent and faithful 
in the discharge of his duty, from first to last, a troubled 
and complaining but obedient prophet. 

Xotice a. That he complained of being deceived by God ; 
also that the people were deceived (Jer. xx. 7, 8, 14-18 ; iv. 
10). But he does not represent this as a message from 
God. The complaint reveals his weakness and impatience 
only. h. That he curses the day of his birth, after the 
manner of Job (xx. 14-18). But he makes no claim to 
be speaking for the Lord in this. c. That he prays for 
vengeance, that is, punishment, on his foes. This may 
have been right, as he knew that God would inflict just 
punishment, if any. d. That he denounces the false 
prophets of his day by the w T ord of the Lord (xxvii. 14, 
15 ; xxviii. 1-17 ; xxix. 8, 21-23, 31, 32). This was right. 
e. That he predicts a return from the captivity in Babylon 



150 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

after seventy years (xxv. 11 ; xxix. 10). /. That he fore- 
tells the Messiah, as well as the restoration from Babylon, 
and seems to connect the two (xxiii. 5-8 ; xxx. 8-1 1 ; 
xxxi. 31-37; xxxii. 36-44; xxxiii. 14, sq.). g. That he 
was commanded to write out his prophecies (xxxvi. 2, 
4, 21, 32). h. That he emphasizes the conditional 
character of prediction. 

(■?i) Ezehiel, the son of Buzi, was a priest, and, together 
with Jehoiachin and the principal families of Judah, was 
carried captive to Babylon by Nebuchadnezzar in 598 B. C. 
(cf. 2 Kings xxiv. 14-17). His residence in Babylon was 
at Tel-Abib on the river Chebar (Ezek. iii. 15). He seems 
to have been respected and consulted by the elders of 
Judah in captivity (viii. 1 ; xiv. 1 ; xx. 1). 

The dates of many of his prophetic messages are care- 
fully given (Ezek. i. 2 ; viii. 1 ; xx. 1 ; xxiv. 1 ; xxvi. 1 ; xxix. 
17 ; xxxiii. 21), and there is abundant reason to believe 
that the canonical book bearing his name is a substan- 
tially correct record of them, though not reciting them in 
chronological order. From this book we obtain all our 
knowledge of his life and character. Instructed by it we 
are able to say : (1) That Ezekiel, as well as Jeremiah, 
was strictly obedient to the Spirit of God, declaring what 
he was bidden to declare, whether men would hear or 
forbear. (2) That his faith in God and hope for his peo- 
ple were unusually steadfast. In this respect he was not 
inferior to the greatest of the prophets. (3) That his 
prophetic vision reached far down the course of time to 
the period of the New Covenant, so that he was truly an 
evangelical prophet. Not that the more spiritual reign of 
God seemed to him remote ; for he saw it so distinctly 
that it may have seemed very near; but that, as men 
reckon by months and years, it was in reality far off in 



INSPIRATION OF PROPHETS AND APOSTLES. 151 

the future. Indeed, a part of his language must be con- 
sidered cschatological, if not in a literal, yet certainly in a 
typical sense. 

But does not Ezekiel represent Jehovah as proposing 
under certain conditions to deceive a prophet? (Ezek. xiv. 9). 
" The prophet " does not mean a true prophet in this pas- 
sage, but rather the pretended prophet who should will- 
ingly lend himself to the encouragement of idolaters. The 
language here used must be understood in the same way 
as the language used by Micaiah in 1 Kings xxii. 23. God 
so orders events that the dishonest prophet may flatter 
himself that his lying prediction will come to pass, though 
it will not. The. case is similar to that of God's hardening 
Pharaoh's heart. The false prophet, who is bent on pre- 
dicting a particular issue, will not fail to see in the course 
of events ordered by the Lord, reasons sufficient to per- 
suade him that it will come to pass. In a certain sense 
God co-operates with wicked prophets, giving them oppor- 
tunity to show forth their real character ; but he never 
treats them unjustly, never inwardly moves them to act 
on insufficient evidence, and never gives them sufficient 
reason to think he will do otherwise than he intends to 
do. But he may test them at their weakest point ; he 
may so order events that the man who wishes to believe 
what is untrue may be able to do it, and the man 
who wishes to assert his own will may find occasion to 
assert it. 

But did not Ezekiel's prediction of the fall of Tyre 
(Ezek. xxvi. 1 sq.) prove false, even according to his own 
account of the matter (xxix. 18 sq.) ? We answer (1) That 
the perfect truthfulness of Ezekiel ought surely to be re- 
cognized by those who ask this question. For he probably 
understood his own language as well as we now under- 



152 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

stand it; and if he has recorded the non-fulfilment of 
his prophecy against Tyre, he must have intended to do 
so. (2) That, conceding his perfect truthfulness and his 
knowledge that the issue of the siege had falsified his 
prediction, we are surprised that he did not go a step 
further, and acknowledge that he had for once misappre- 
hended the Lord's will. For we certainly cannot imagine 
that Ezekiel doubted the foreknowledge of Jehovah. 
(3) That the destruction of Tyre was virtually effected 
by Nebuchadnezzar. His siege and success were the be- 
ginning of the end, and that end was the total overthrow 
described in poetic language by the prophet. It is as 
certain as anything need be which depends upon moral 
evidence, that Ezekiel's confidence in the word of the 
Lord, as apprehended by himself, was not shaken by the 
course of history in this instance. 

(o) Daniel, if we admit the credibility of the book 
which bears his name, was a contemporary of Ezekiel, 
though outliving him many years. While yet a young- 
man he became distinguished for wisdom, integrity, and 
obedience to God (Dan. i. 6, 8, 12 sq. ; and Ezek. xiv. 14, 
20 ; xxviii. 3). 

His prophetic inspiration was first manifested in the in- 
terpretation of significant dreams (Dan. ii. 3, 9, 10, 11, 19, 
29 sq.). In the first case, as recited in these passages, Neb- 
uchadnezzar had forgotten the remarkable dream which he 
desired to have interpreted, and therefore he asked " the 
wise men " to make known to him both his dream and 
its interpretation. If these men professed to receive in- 
struction from the gods his demand was not unreasonable ; 
for it must be as easy for the gods to make known the 
dream which they had sent as to declare its meaning. 
Compare also the second instance, where the wise men 



INSPIRATION OF PROPHETS AND APOSTLES. 153 

were equally helpless, though the king made known to 
them fully his dream (Dan. iv. 4, 7, 10 sq., 19 sq.). 

The faithfulness of Daniel is conspicuous, especially in 
his interpretation of the second dream of Nebuchadnezzar, 
and in his interpretation of the hand-writing on the wall 
at Belshazzar's feast (Dan. v. 13 sq., 18 sq., esp. 25-28).' 

The later revelations made by Daniel were, for the 
most part, communicated to him in dreams or visions 
(Dan. vii. 1-14, 15-27; viii. 1-26, esp. 18; x. 1-9). Whether 
all that he describes in these passages took place while 
he was asleep, is uncertain. Perhaps not. But it is im- 
portant to notice that he is assumed to have written out 
his visions in a book, which was to be sealed up " until 
the time of the end ; " evidently because it could not be 
understood by the men of his own day (Dan. xii. 4). 

(p) John the Baptist is said by the Lord to have been 
a prophet, yea, and more than a prophet, inasmuch as he 
was the immediate harbinger of Christ (Matt. xi. 9). The 
same is implied in the words : " But I say unto you, that 
Elijah is come already, and they did not know him, but 
.did unto him whatsoever they listed" (Matt. xvii. 12). 
John appears to have resembled Elijah in his appearance, 
character, manner of life, and mission. Both were sent 
to call the people to repentance and to bring them anew 
into a proper relation to God. The mission of both was 
ratified in the same way, by the speedy fulfilment of their 
predictions. In respect to miracles they differed, unless 
we regard the miracles of Christ as indorsing the preaching 
of John as well as his own preaching. Of the courage, 
the fidelity, and the nobleness of John we have conclusive 
evidence in his words to the Pharisees and Sadducees 
(Matt. iii. 7-12), to the publicans and soldiers (Luke iii. 
12-14), to Herod the tetrarch (Matt. xiv. 3-5), and to 
some of his own disciples (John iii. 26-30). 



154 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

As to the Christian prophets (after John), we have no 
information that leads us to suppose them different from 
the ancient Jewish prophets, except in their messages. 

We have omitted the Minor Projects, except Jonah, 
because they may be treated with sufficient fulness as a 
class. For (1), the moral and religious tone of their writ- 
ings is essentially the same as that of Isaiah, Jeremiah, 
and Ezekiel. (2) They strenuously denounce the sins of 
the people, whether of Israel or of Judah, without regard 
to rank or wealth. Eich and poor, princes and subjects, 
are alike reproved for their idolatry, sensuality, and greed. 
(8) They predict the coming of God's judgments upon 
the people for their sins. Both divine justice and divine 
compassion are urged as motives to repentance ; though 
the former is presented more frequently than the latter, 
because the people were more likely to be influenced 
by it. (4) They occasionally predict the destruction of 
heathen nations, then prosperous and powerful, and rep- 
resent their destruction as the just reward of their sins. 
(5) They sometimes announce the coming of a period 
when Israel, or a remnant of the people, i. e., the true 
Israel, shall be saved. This is the golden thread which 
runs through their prophecies. 

As to the " band of Prophets '" in the days of Samuel 
(1 Saml. x. 5, 10, 12; xix. 20-24), and "the sons of the 
prophets " in the days of Elijah (2 Kings ii. 3, 5, 7, 15), 
we have very little information. They may have been 
young men in training for prophetic service, though not 
yet authorized to act as independent teachers of the 
Lord's will. Some of the prophets after Samuel may have 
been taught in this way. Amos says that he was not 
(vii. 14), and we are unable to point out any one who 
was. Yet Elisha was with Elijah for many years; and it 



INSPIRATION OF PROPHETS AND APOSTLES. 155 

is quite natural to suppose that such men as Nathan and 
Grad may have been under the tuition of Samuel. But 
the different references to these young men do not justify 
us in thinking that any one of them became prophets, 
without a special gift of the Spirit. Xotice that the 
prophesying of Saul's messengers and of Saul himself in 
1 Samuel, xix. 20-24, is expressed by the Hithpael of the 
verb, while the Piel participle is used of the prophesying 
of " the company of the prophets " with Samuel. 

In respect to the seventy Elders on whom the Spirit of 
God, taken from Moses, " rested and they prophesied " 
(Xum. xi. 25), it is only necessary to remark that the 
Revised Version translates the last clause correctly, " but 
they did so no more," showing that their prophetic inspi- 
ration was not continued. Besides, it is worthy of note, 
that the Hithpael, instead of the Xiphal form of the verb, 
is used in describing what they did on that single occa- 
sion. AVere they, though deeply influenced by the Spirit 
of God, nevertheless more self-moved than a true prophet 
when speaking the word of Jehovah ? May they not 
have had the religious impulse in a high degree without 
any distinct message from the Lord ? The record is too 
brief to justify any positive answer to this question. 

Reference has been made to dreams as media of com- 
munication between the Spirit of God and that of man. 
(p. 20.) But it may be well to compare the general 
statements of Num. xii. 6 ; 1 Sam. xxviii. 6, 15 ; Job 
xxxiii. 15-17; Joel ii. 28; and Acts ii. 17, with the fol- 
lowing instances, — namely, of Abimelech (Gen. xx. 6 sq.) ; 
Isaac (Gen. xxvi. 24) ; Jacob (Gen. xxviii. 12-15, xxxi. 12, 
13) ; Laban (Gen. xxxi. 24, 29) ; Joseph (Gen. xxxvii. 6, 7, 9, 
10) ; chief butler and chief baker (Gen. xl. 9 f., 16) ; Pharaoh 
(Gen. xli. 1-7, 25 f.) ; Jacob (Gen. xlvi. 3, 4) ; Balaam 



156 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND KELIGION. 

(Num. xxii. 8 f., 19 f.); Gideon (Judges vi. 25, vii. 9); a 
soldier (Judges vii. 13) ; Solomon (1 Kings iii. 5, 15) ; Eli- 
phaz (Job iv. 12-19) ; Joseph (Matt. i. 20, ii. 13, 19, 22). It 
is evident from these instances that God sometimes com- 
municated his will to men in dreams. How such dreams 
were distinguished from others we are not informed. 
Why God made use of them at all, instead of approaching 
the souls of men who were at the time awake, can only 
be conjectured. Perhaps it was because sleep withdraws 
the soul from the influence of sensible objects, and leaves 
it to the sole influence of the Spirit. Possibly it was be- 
cause the men to whom God was pleased to make known 
his will were predisposed to believe in the divine signifi- 
cance of dreams. Why should not God adapt his method 
of revealing truth to the expectations of men ? Why was 
it unworthy of him to stoop to their weakness for the sake 
of making them stronger ? Is there any moral objection 
to such a course ? We think not. Yet the former reason 
seems to have some force, and should be associated with 
the latter, if the latter is admitted. 

Thus a survey of the actual works of the ancient 
prophets confirms our conclusions as to the effect of in- 
spiration upon them (see pp. 29, 30). What they brought 
to the people as the Word of God was truly his Word for 
them, and for us also, when properly interpreted. 

G. The Conclusions of Modem Interpreters as to a 
Prophet's Office and Work. — It is difficult to make a 
selection of opinions on this subject, but the following 
are certainly worthy of attention. In his notes on Acts, 
'xi. 27, De Wette describes New Testament prophets {irpo- 
<f>rjTaL) as inspired teachers, who worked in altogether the 
same way as the prophets of the Old Covenant, only that 
their inspiration was Christian. A disclosure of the future 



INSPIRATION OF PROPHETS AND APOSTLES. 157 

was as little their principal business as it was that of the 
Old Testament prophets, though it belonged to their work. 

Meyer, commenting on the same passage, defines 
"prophets as inspired teachers who, though not in an 
ecstasy, yet make their communications in elevated speech 
upon the ha sis of revelations received. Their activity was 
wholly similar to that of the Old Testament prophets. 
Revelation, impulse, inspiration from God, qualified them 
for their office ; a disclosure of some part of the hidden 
purpose of God in order to a psychological and moral effect 
in given relations, yet always with reference to Christ and 
his work, was the substance of what these interpreters of 
God spoke. The foretelling of the future was no more a 
uniform characteristic of these New Testament prophets 
than it had been of the Old Testament prophets ; yet the 
divinely enlightened eye naturally and necessarily pierced 
very often into the future development of the divine pur- 
pose and kingdom, and perceived what was to take place." 

Hengstenberg, in Appendix VI. to his " Christology of 
the Old Testament " (vol. iv.), maintains " That, when in 
the Spirit, the prophets were in a state altogether dis- 
tinct from their ordinary condition ; that their intelligent 
consciousness was something secondary and superadded " 
(p. 308) ; that " the gates of the world beyond were opened 
in the ecstatic state, that what is obscure and confused 
in the lower kinds of ecstasy, on account of the fantas- 
tic dreams which mingle with it, is clear and distinct 
in the higher or prophetic form" (p. 407); that "all the 
divine revelations were discerned by immediate percep- 
tion, the impressions being made upon their inward sense, 
which was roused into action by the Spirit of the Lord, 
whilst the outward senses were quiescent, and the power 
of reflection was for a time suspended" (p. 413) ; yet that 



158 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

"the prophets were not merely instruments in the hands 
of a superior power," that "they did not lose their self- 
possession," but "knew what they said, and spoke with a 
full apprehension of the existing circumstances " (p. 398). 
R Payne Smith remarks that, "under the Old Testa- 
ment, the prophet was the mediator, whose business it w T as 
in his measure to do that which Christ did fully and 
finally for his Church. For the whole theory of the Bible 
is that man needs a certain amount of information as 
to his soul, its relations to God and to eternity. This 
knowledge must be conveyed to man through some such 
medium as will enable him to understand it. . . . Suffi- 
cient it must be, or it were no good giving it at all. But 
the amount of truth was limited by man's needs. There 
is all that he requires, but nothing more, — nothing given 
to satisfy our curiosity, or even our thirst for knowledge. 
Yet God has given us this limited measure of truth in 
such a way that we seem never to reach the bottom of it " 
(" Prophecy a Preparation for Christ," pp. 64, 65). Further 
still, that "nabhi is derived from a root signifying to 
'bubble upas a fountain;'" that "this overflowing ful- 
ness is not the prophet's own ; " that " it was by compul- 
sion that the message burst forth from his lips ; " that he 
neither regarded himself, nor was regarded by others as 
entirely a free agent (note the passive form of the verb) ; 
that " his freedom was not absolutely overpowered, but 
there was a bit in his mouth," etc. (pp. 53, 54.) 

Prof. Edward L. Curtis, Ph. D. (McCormick Theol. 
Sem., Chicago), presents the following view : — 

"If the prophet is a revealer or speaker of the divine will, 
how does he differ from the other writers of Scripture ? The 
prophet gave the divine will or message as something apart 
and distinct from his own thoughts. He differs thus from 



INSPIRATION OF PROPHETS AXD APOSTLES. 159 

the sacred poet. 'The poet gave utterance to the longings, 
aspirations, fears, doubts, and anxieties of man's heart, 
whereas the prophet was commissioned to address himself 
directly to the people as conveying to them the message of 
God. One represented, so to speak, the human side of the 
truth, — what man feels and is ; the other, the divine, — what 
God is and requires. One speaks from man to God, the 
other from God to man.' His natural faculties of reflection, 
reason, and imagination were doubtless not abated, nay 
rather were quickened; yet he was conscious of receiving 
information in some other way than through these. Hence 
the hand of the Lord was said to be upon him. Isa. viii. 11; 
Jer. xv. 17; Ezek. i. 3; iii. 14, 22; viii. 1. . . . This dis- 
tinct consciousness of uttering the word of God is one of the 
strongest arguments for the truth of their claim to be the 
revealers of the divine will, just as one of the strongest 
arguments for the Messiahship and divinity of Christ is his 
own consciousness and testimony of the same. As in the 
case of the greatest of the prophets, so also of his forerun- 
ners, they were either deceivers or self-deceived, or, as they 
claimed to be, the mouthpieces of God." 1 

Says W. Eobertson Smith, in the "Prophets of Israel:" 

"The prophets were never patriots of the common stamp, 
to whom national interests stand higher than the absolute 
claims of religion and morality" (p. 78). " The word of 
Jehovah through the prophet is properly a declaration of 
what Jehovah as the personal King of Israel commands in 
this particular crisis, and it is spoken with authority, — not 
as an inference from previous revelation, but as the direct ex- 
pression of the character and will of a personal God, who has 
made himself personally audible in the prophet's soul " (p. 82). 

Says Dr. Riehm (E.) : — 

"It is an undeniable fact, and affirmed upon every page of 
the prophetic writings, that the prophets themselves had the 

1 The Hebrew Student, for September, 1886, pp 25, 26. 



160 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

clearest and most profound consciousness that they did not 
utter their own thoughts, but those revealed to them by God; 
not their own words, but the words of God put into their 
hearts and into their mouths by him." 1 

Prof. C. A. Briggs uses the following language : — 

"The prophets of Israel play upon the great heart of the 
Hebrew people as upon a thousand-stringed lyre, striking 
the tones with divinely-guided touch, so that from the dirge 
of rapidly succeeding disaster and ruin, they rise through 
penitence and petition to faith, assurance, exultation, and 
hallelujah." 2 

In a later work Professor Briggs says : — 

" The prophet of Javeh is personally called and endowed 
by Javeh with the prophet's spirit. He speaks in the name 
of Javeh and in his name alone. He is one of a series of 
prophets who guide in the development of the Hebrew re- 
ligion. He absorbs and reproduces previous prophecy. He 
transmits prophecy with confidence to his successors. Hebrew 
prophecy is an organism of redemption." 3 

Conclusions as to the Nature and Extent of Inspiration 
in Prophets. 

Our study of the Old Testament Scriptures, considered 
as fairly credible sources of religious knowledge, leads 
directly to the following conclusions : — 

I. That true prophets claimed to be, when inspired, 
God's messengers, delivering in obedience to his will com- 
munications from him to men. These communications 
were instructions, commands, threatenings, promises, etc., 
as given circumstances might require ; but they were 
uniformly represented, not as their own intuitions, beliefs, 

1 Messianic Prophecy, p. 12. 

2 Bible Study, p. 295. 

8 Messianic Prophecy, p. 18. 



INSPIRATION OF PROPHETS AND APOSTLES. 161 

or opinions, but as God's messages through them. This 
was the essential claim made by the prophets of Jehovah, 
and we have found no good and sufficient reason for 
doubting the validity of it. It is sustained by the high 
character of the men, by the moral elevation and trust 
in God which their teaching reveals, and by the fulfilment 
of a great number of their predictions. 

II. That though prophets were God's messengers or 
spokesmen, their mental powers were employed in trans- 
mitting his thoughts to men. As far as possible his 
thoughts were made theirs, in order that they might 
utter them intelligently and earnestly. Hence the special 
talent, temperament, education, experience, and environ- 
ment of every prophet, were reflected in his teaching. 
For the Spirit of God entered into him as he was, and 
adapted the heavenly message to the soul of the mes- 
senger. Even when it was necessary to give a prophet 
the very words of his message, those words were appar- 
ently determined by his vocabulary, and combined as 
he would naturally combine them to express the same 
thought. The Spirit of God seems to have permeated the 
prophet's mind, and to have spoken through it and its 
powers, as wielded consciously by their possessor. In- 
spiration differed from "possession," inasmuch as the 
prophet's mind, though supernaturally enlightened, usu- 
ally acted in a truly normal manner. States of ecstasy 
appear to have been exceptional. The history of the 
prophets shows them to have been sane and sober men. 

III. That the revelation of divine truth through the 
prophets was progressive, — " first the blade, then the ear, 
then the full corn in the ear." The method w T as educa- 
tional. In condescension to both prophets and people, 
but chiefly to the latter, God declared his will " in many 

11 



162 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

ways and in many parts," as they could bear it (Heb. i. 1). 
The teaching of Isaiah is manifestly in advance of the 
teaching of Moses, especially in its Messianic outlook and 
its description of the grace of God. " Until the eternal 
justice is perceived, the eternal love must be hidden" 
(Henry George). Hence we cannot be surprised to find 
in the Pentateuch moral teaching which was right because 
of its tendency to improve society as it then was, and to 
prepare it for a higher and better law, though the same 
teaching would be imperfect, and perhaps wrong, if ad- 
dressed to us. " The tendency of laws which prohibit or 
command what the moral sense does not, is to bring law 
into contempt and produce hypocrisy and evasion " (Henry 
George). The educational method is therefore good, when 
applied by One who has absolute knowledge, but dangerous 
when applied by one who has not such knowledge. The 
alleged errors of Scripture, says the late Professor Gard- 
ner, " are simply the necessary limitations of revelation 
in making itself intelligible to those to whom it was 
given. . . . Eevelation must, therefore, be marked in dif- 
ferent ages by different degrees of this so-called errone- 
ousness or imperfection of teaching. Men must be trained 
through inferior conceptions, such conceptions as it was 
possible to awaken in them without violating the laws of 
their nature, to enable them to rise to higher ones ; they 
must be appealed to through motives and feelings they 
can understand, before they can be led up to those which, 
at first, they could not understand." (Compare C. A. 
Briggs, "Messianic Prophecy," pp. 31, 32.) 

IV. That the prediction of future events through the 
prophets was in many cases conditional, that is to say, 
men were forewarned that, on account of their sins, cer- 
tain calamities would fall upon them, — it being under- 



INSPIRATION OF PROPHETS AND APOSTLES. 163 

stood that they would not repent of their evil deeds, but 
continue on in their present course. In like manner 
blessings were sometimes predicted, on the assumption of 
righteous conduct, but were forfeited by unbelief and sin. 
The conditional nature of prophecy ought therefore to be 
borne in mind when we seek to estimate the effect of 
inspiration on the prophet's authority. 

V. That in so far as the Old Testament is composed 
of messages delivered or books written or endorsed by 
prophets, it may be safely received as the Word of God 
to those who were addressed by it, and indeed as equally 
so to us, unless it has been superseded by clearer and 
more complete instruction from the same source. But 
our interpretation of it must not overlook its fragmentary, 
progressive, educational character, or the conditional nature 
of many of its predictions. Nor must it overlook the 
highly figurative or symbolical language of these predic- 
tions, and their general indefiniteness as to times and sea- 
sons. Prediction was not intended to anticipate history. 
It relates to the substance rather than to the form of 
coming events. If these points are duly considered, the 
teaching of the prophets will be found worthy of all con- 
fidence, and the revelation of God's will made through 
them a foreshadowing and pledge of the final revelation 
in Christ. 

VI. That the Spirit of inspiration in the prophets was 
impulsive as well as instructive. This is sometimes over- 
looked. But in fact they were pre-eminently conscien- 
tious, fervid, and heroic, when inspired. Their language 
often glows with deepest feeling. They were the great 
preachers of the nation, and leaders in almost every 
reform. It is impossible to doubt that they were moved 
as well as enlightened by the Spirit of God. 



164 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

Remark. — It has been thought desirable by some to dis- 
tinguish between inspiration and revelation, — between 
the influence of the Spirit which prepared the prophet to 
welcome, retain, and declare the truth, and the action 
which imparted to his mind new truth. The former is 
supposed by them to be the proper work of the Spirit, and 
the latter, the proper work of the Logos or Son. But this 
distinction, though intelligible and convenient, is not fully 
established, and need not be defended in our present study. 
It is at any rate safe to regard the divine influence as 
essentially dynamical, as far as this method of action was 
practicable. 

Our study now leads us to the Apostles of Christ, 
and we shall consider — 

A. The signification of the word " apostle " in the New 
Testament. — The Greek word airoaroXos, from airoareXko}, 
to send off or aivay, signifies a delegate, messenger, one sent 
with orders (Thayer's N. T. Lexicon). It is applied, (1) to 
a messenger of certain churches, or of a church (2 Cor. viii. 
23; Phil. ii. 25) ; (2) to Jesus Christ as God's great mes- 
senger to men (Heb. iii. 1) ; compare the angel of Jehovah 
in the Old Testament ; (3) to the Twelve and Paul who 
were sent into the world by Christ to proclaim the gospel 
(Matt. x. 1-4 ; Luke vi. 13 ; John xx. 21 ; Acts i. 26 ; Eev. 
xxi. 14; also Gal. i. 1, 11 f . ; ii. 8 ; 1 Cor. i. 17; ix. 1 f. ; 
xv. 8-10; 2 Cor. xii. 12; 1 Tim. ii. 7; 2 Tim. i. 1, 11); 
and (4) in a broader sense, to other Christian teachers 
(Acts xiv. 14; 1 Thess. i. 1 ; ii. 6). 

B. The relation of the Apostles (3 above) to other Disci- 
ples in the First Age. — That this was one of the highest 
authority in teaching Christian truth may be inferred, — 
(1) From the words of Christ as preserved by Matthew 



INSPIRATION OF PROPHETS AND APOSTLES. 165 

xvi. 17-20 (cf. x. 40) and John xx. 21-23 (cf. vi. 70 ; xiii. 
18, 20 ; xv. 16, 27). But the words of Jesus in Matt, 
xviii. 18 and in Luke x. 16 should also be considered. 
Plainly, however, the action of a Christian church is 
regarded as the action of the apostles, when it is con- 
formed to their teaching. Whatever the churches should 
thus do, the apostles would do. In like manner, what 
the Seventy should say under Christ's direction, Christ 
himself would virtually say. Yet their mission and 
message were very limited, while those of the apostles 
were very comprehensive. 

(2) From references made by apostles to their position 
and work as Christian teachers. See (a) The words of 
John in Eev. xxi. 14, and the words of Paul in 1 Cor. xii. 
28 and Eph. ii. 20; iv. 11. These passages assign the 
highest place among Christian teachers to the apostles, 
distinguishing them from all other spiritually endowed 
workers under the new economy, — from prophets, as well 
as from pastors and bishops, (b) The words of Paul, 
spoken often in regard to himself as an apostle (Rom. i. 
1, 5 ; 1 Cor. i. 1 ; ii. 6, 12, 13, 16 ; iii. 10 ; iv. 17, 21 ; ix. 
1-3 ; xi. 3, 23-26 ; xiv. 37 ; 2 Cor. i. 1 ; x. 8-11 ; xi. 6,13 ; 
xii. 11, 12; xiii. 2, 3, 10; Gal. i. 1, 8, 11, 12, 17; ii. 8; 
Eph. i. 1 ; iii. 1-11 ; Phil. iii. 17 ; Col. i. 1, 25-28 ; 1 Thess. 
ii. 13 ; iv. 2 ; 2 Thess. ii. 15 ; iii. 6, 12, 14 ; 1 Tim. i. 12 ; 
ii. 7 ; iv. 1 ; 2 Tim. i. 1, 11 ; Titus i. 1). A study of these 
and other passages in the writings of Paul will be likely 
to convince any one. (a) That he looked upon the office 
or ministry of an apostle as the highest known to Chris- 
tians ; (/3) that he looked upon it chiefly as securing an 
authoritative preaching of the gospel ; (7) but also as 
securing an authoritative teaching o£ church order and 
discipline ; (S) and finally, as presupposing the amplest 



166 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

spiritual endowment. His own qualifications for this great 
ministry were due, in a pre-eminent degree, to revelation 
by the Spirit, since he had not been a witness of Christ's 
works in the flesh or a hearer of his instructions. 

C. The special Inspiration of the Holy Spirit which 
was promised to the Apostles. — (1) According to the 
first three Evangelists, this inspiration was given to 
assist them in making their apology or defence when 
brought before rulers (Matt. x. 19, 20; Mark xiii. 11; 
Luke xii. 11, 12). These promises show that the Spirit 
was to assist them not only in thought but also in 
expression. (2) According to the fourth Evangelist, 
this inspiration was given to assist them in all their 
ministry as teachers of Christian truth (John xiv. 26 ; 
xv. 26; xvi. 7, 13-15; cf. xiv. 16, 17). These pas- 
sages, interpreted simply and naturally, prove (a) That 
the Holy Spirit would be the Advocate of the Father and 
the Son with and in the apostles. This follows from 
the use of the word " advocate " compared with xvi. 14, 15. 
(b) That the Spirit would bring to their remembrance all 
that Jesus himself had said to them, xiv. 26. And if this 
verse does not specify the works as well as the words of 
Christ, the former were inseparably connected with the 
latter, and are fairly included in the promise of xvi. 14, 
15. (c) That He would "show them things to come," lit- 
erally, " the things to come." This language assures them 
of prophetic inspiration, — of light through the Spirit 
as to future events in the reign of Christ, (d) That 
He " would teach them all things," or " guide them 
into all the truth," meaning, doubtless, all the truth con- 
cerning Christ and his redemptive work which properly 
belongs to revealed religion. That these promises were 
meant for the apostles only, we believe, (a) Because they 



INSPIRATION OF PROPHETS AND APOSTLES. 167 

were addressed to them only ; (£) because they assured 
them of suitable equipment for a special work ; (7) be- 
cause history forbids us to suppose them meant for all 
Christians. 

D. The recorded Fulfilment of this Promise on the day 
of Pentecost. — Some interpreters hold that this promise 
was partially fulfilled on the evening after Christ's resur- 
rection, when in a closed room he appeared to his disci- 
ples, " breathed on them, and said, Receive ye the Holy 
Spirit;" especially as these words were followed by the 
declaration : " Whose soever sins ye forgive, they are for- 
given unto them ; whose soever ye retain, they are re- 
tained " (John xx. 22, 23). But in view of Luke xxiv, 49, 
" But tarry ye in the city, until ye are clothed with 
power from on high," which seems to have been spoken 
at the same time as John xx. 22, 23, and of Acts i. 8, 
" But ye shall receive power, when the Holy Spirit is 
come upon you," which contains a repetition of the 
promise a little before the Ascension, we think that the 
Saviour's emblematic act of breathing upon them, together 
with his accompanying words, must be understood as re- 
ferring to the near future, and not to the actual present. 

It is perfectly evident that Luke regarded the outpour- 
ing of the Spirit on the day of Pentecost as the fulfilment 
of Christ's words in his gospel, xxiv. 49, and Acts i. 8. 
But Peter interprets the same event as a fulfilment of 
the prophecy of Joel, ii. 28-32 (Acts ii. 16-21), though 
he also attributes the outpouring of the Spirit to the as- 
cended Christ (Acts ii. 33). With this may be compared 
John vii. 39 and xiv. 16; xvi. 7, which teach that the 
Spirit was to be sent by the glorified Christ as truly as 
by the Father. On the whole, then, it is plain that the 
promise of God by the prophet Joel embraced in its 



168 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

meaning the special promise of Christ to his apostles, but 
was not exhausted by the latter. The latter concentrated 
attention on the most extraordinary feature of the former. 
Notice then (1) that the words of Joel (ii. 28-31) seem 
to predict different gifts for persons of different age, though 
all proceed from the same divine source. The prophecy is 
general, not mentioning the highest forms of spiritual in- 
iluence known to the Old Testament prophets, but laying 
principal stress on the wide diffusion of the Spirit, yet 
suggesting a variety of operations. The signs in nature 
are said to precede " the great and terrible (i. e. the judg- 
ment) day " of the future economy ; but they are not to be 
identified with any miracles wrought by the apostles. 

(2) That Paul (in 1 Cor. xii. 4.-11, 28-30; xiv. passim) 
teaches very clearly the existence of a variety of spiritual 
gifts (yapiaiLaTo) in the early churches, — some members 
receiving one kind of extraordinary grace, and others, 
another kind. The distribution was determined prima- 
rily by the needs of the churches (Eph. iv. 12-16 ; 1 Cor. 
xii. 7 ; xiv. 2-5) ; though the peculiarities, natural and 
spiritual, of every Christian, and especially the danger of 
fostering pride or self-sufficiency may have been taken 
into account also (compare 1 Cor. xii. 21 ; 2 Cor. xii. 7-9). 

(3) That Paul himself, and by parity of reason the 
other apostles, had a variety of gifts to qualify them for 
their great and special ministry (1 Cor. xiv. 18, 19; Acts 
ii. 4, 6, 7; xix. 6; viii. 14-17; 2 Tim. i. 6 ; 1 Cor. ii. 6 f.; 
iii. 10 ; xii. 8 ; Acts xiii. 9-11 ; xiv. 3, 8-10 ; xix. 11,12, etc.). 
Indeed, the apostles seem to have been severally en- 
dowed with all the "gifts''' possessed by any Christians 
of their time, in addition to some which they alone re- 
ceived. How then, it may be asked, were they preserved 
from pride and self-confidence ? We answer, («) In part, 



INSPIRATION OF PROPHETS AND APOSTLES. 169 

perhaps, by their vivid recollection of Jesus in the mani- 
fold circumstances of his ministry and death, and (b) in 
part, by a remembrance of their own weakness and errors 
during the same period. The tuition of Christ for three 
years was invaluable to them. After long experience 
and many falls they learned that, apart from him, they 
could do nothing. It is possible, therefore, that the 
Eleven were in less danger of self-elation than Paul, who 
needed to be kept humble by a thorn in the flesh ; yet 
we have no clear evidence of this. Some of them may 
have had trials as great as Paul endured, and possibly 
for the same reason. 

(4) That this fulfilment of a comprehensive promise 
by a variety of special gifts, answering to the wants of 
the churches (comp. 1 Cor. xii. 11 ; Heb. ii. 4), is in ac- 
cord with the idea of a progressive revelation, and with 
all we know of advancing civilization. The homogeneous 
is differentiated ; the nebula is resolved into separate 
stars ; society advances by division of labor. So in the 
churches, all did not speak with tongues or prophesy ; 
not all were evangelists or apostles. But for the sake 
of immutable foundations and good order there were a 
few whose endowments qualified them to guide the rest ; 
and these were the apostles. 

E. The Change wrought in the Apostles hy its Ful- 
filment. — This change was twofold, — in their views of 
Christ and his work, and in their steadfastness and de- 
votion. 1. Instead of looking upon Christ as a Jewish 
Prince who would deliver Israel from Roman bondage 
and make it a mighty nation, they began to look upon 
him as a Deliverer of men from sin and death. They 
had learned, even before the crucifixion, that Jesus was 
not only the son of David, but also the Son of God. 



170 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

Yet they had not learned, it seems, that his reign was 
to be really spiritual, mediated by truth and the Spirit 
of God, until the miracle of Pentecost. From that hour 
they advanced rapidly in knowledge, preaching Jesus 
and the resurrection to Jew and Gentile. To see the 
contrast between what they believed before the death of 
Christ and what they believed after the first Christian 
Pentecost, we should have to collect their words as 
preserved in the Gospels, and compare them with their 
discourses preserved in the Acts and their letters. But 
this is scarcely necessary. 

Many writers trace this change to their assurance of 
his resurrection. Thus, Stalker in his " Life of Jesus 
Christ" (pp. 134-35), says : " As Christ rose from the dead 
in a transfigured body, so did Christianity (?). It had 
put off its carnality. What effected this change ? They 
say it was the resurrection and the sight of the risen 
Christ (?). But their testimony is not the proof that He 
rose. The incontestable proof is the change itself, — the 
fact that suddenly they had become courageous, hopeful, 
believing, wise, possessed with noble and reasonable 
views of the world's future, and equipped with resources 
sufficient to found the church, convert the world, and 
establish Christianity in purity among men. Between the 
last Old Testament Sabbath and the time, a few weeks 
afterwards, when this stupendous change had undeniably 
taken place, some event must have intervened which can 
be regarded as a sufficient cause for so great an effect. 
The resurrection alone answers the exigencies of the 
problem, and is therefore proved by a demonstration far 
more cogent than perhaps any testimony could be." 
Here no reference is made to the Pentecost ; but do we 
know that the change so well described was, or could have 



INSPIRATION OF PROPHETS AND APOSTLES. 171 

been, effected without the Pentecost, or something equiv- 
alent to it ? We should say that the resurrection and 
the Pentecost answer the exigencies of the problem, — 
that is, account for the change described. 

2. Instead of being self-seeking, and to a certain degree 
timid, they became remarkably self-denying and coura- 
geous. The Spirit gave them power. Their souls were in- 
flamed with a great purpose. They were thenceforth as 
heroic as the ancient prophets. The impulsive influence 
of the Spirit seemed to equal the instructive influence, 
and such a change in both respects has rarely, if ever, 
been witnessed in the lives of men. It was partly due, 
no doubt, to their cognizance of the resurrection and 
ascension of Christ, but it was due still more to the 
baptism of the Holy Spirit. 

F. The Character of the Apostolic Teaching from that 
time forward. — 1. It was, like that of their Master, 
very positive. Peter and John and Matthew are alike 
in this respect. Paul belongs to the same class and for 
the same reason. And if we must add the other writers 
of the New Testament, it is probably because they too 
were inspired. 2. It was eminently spiritual. Opposed 
to everything sensual or selfish, it appealed to the purest 
motives. Holiness of heart and life, love to God and 
man, joy in spiritual things, were urged upon all as the 
new and true life. 3. It was essentially self -consistent. 
Some, however, have denied this, and we only affirm it 
as our own judgment. It is true that several of the 
New Testament writers have failed to state their belief 
in regard to many points treated by others ; but omis- 
sion is not contradiction. And it cannot be proved that 
Matthew's theology differed from Paul's or John's in any 
essential part. Yet special occasions called for the en- 



172 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

forcement of special doctrines or duties, not for an 
epitome of Christian truth. Hence, the Epistle of James 
and others. The teaching of the apostles was progres- 
sive, but on the same lines from first to last. 4. It was 
always practical ; no less so, perhaps, than the teaching 
of Christ himself. In it we discover no traces of selfish 
or worldly ambition, no coldness or indifference, but on 
the contrary a serious and intense desire to honor Christ 
and save men. Moreover, salvation was conceived of as 
being more than deliverance from natural evil, — as being 
harmony with God through holiness of life, or holiness 
of life through union with God in Christ. 

Remark. — Here it would be pertinent to consider the 
various objections which have been made to the teach- 
ing of the apostles, — objections, it is said, which prove 
that inspiration did not preserve them from proclaim- 
ing error. But we deem it unnecessary, after what has 
been said in the Manual, 1 to do more than enumerate 
these objections. They are then as follows : (a) " That 
the Apostles may not always have been true to their 
convictions." But of this there is absolutely no evidence, 
unless it be found in Peter's conduct at Antioch (Gal. ii. 
11-13), or Paul's before the Sanhedrin (Acts xxiii. 3-5). 
But Peter's error was one of private conduct, and Paul's 
language was probably that of honest, scornful indigna- 
tion, (b) "That they often misinterpreted passages of 
the Old Testament." We must be permitted to doubt 
this assertion. (c) " That they taught contradictory 
doctrines," a charge which we do not admit to be true. 
(d) " That they expected the final coming of Christ in 
their day." They did not teach that this coming would 
be in their day, and we are not convinced that they 

1 See the author's " Manual of Theology," pp. 71-73. 



INSPIRATION OF PROPHETS AND APOSTLES. 173 

expected it so soon. They regarded, that event as condi- 
tioned on others of uncertain date, (e) " That they con- 
fessed their own ignorance or foro-etf illness " (1 Cor. i. 1-i- 

O O \ 

16). This favors the view that when they wrote positively 
their knowledge was certain (cf. 2 Cor. xii. 2, 3). 

Our conclusions as to the influence of divine inspiration 
on the apostles may be stated as follows : — 

I. It was similar in kind to that experienced by the 
ancient prophets, but more constant, or less frequently 
interrupted. And this difference appears to have been 
due to a difference in their mission. The prophets were 
called to meet emergencies, to bear particular messages, to 
address an individual or a nation. But the apostles were 
entrusted with a work of unlimited evangelization. Their 
field was the world, their message a whole system of reli- 
gious truth, and their work to persuade sinners of every 
nation to receive and obey that truth. The sole limit to 
their task was furnished by their weakness and mortality. 

II. It was peculiarly instructive, qualifying them to 
teach Christian truth without any tincture of error. And 
this kind of truth was the only kind that, strictly speak- 
ing, they were sent to teach (Matt, xxviii. 18 ; Mark xvi. 
15). But it embraced Christian facts as well as Christian 
principles, — the doings and sufferings of the Lord Jesus, 
as well as his savings. Religious teaching bv means of 

i/O O O «/ 

historical events was just as much under the divine influ- 
ence as any other form of teaching. The object was never 
to teach history, but always to teach religious truth 
through history. Hence from this point of view we can 
only say with absolute assurance, that the historical refer- 
ences must have been sufficiently accurate to convey with- 
out error the religious truth intended. In many cases 
(e. g. in allusions to periods of history), minute accuracy 



174 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

was needless. (Compare Dr. Hackett's note on Acts xiii. 
20 : " It is evident, therefore, that Paul has followed here 
a mode of reckoning which was current at that time, and 
which, being a well-known received chronology, whether 
correct or incorrect in itself considered, was entirely cor- 
rect for his object, — which was not to settle a question 
about dates, but to recall to the minds of those whom he 
addressed a particular portion of the Jewish history "). 

III. It ivas also suhlimely impulsive, enabling them to 
be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of 
the Lord. The boldness of Elijah was surpassed by that 
of Paul. After receiving the Holy Spirit on the day of 
Pentecost, the apostles were ready to lay down their 
lives for Christ's sake and the gospel's. Moreover, the 
Spirit gave them zeal as well as courage. Hence their 
power as preachers and writers. Their words were hot 
with love, glowing and impressive. Men could not hear 
them with indifference. They proved a savor of life unto 
life, or of death unto death. 

Remark 1. — We have characterized inspiration as dy- 
namical, using this epithet for want of a better one. What 
it signifies is this, that the influence called inspiration 
springs horn poiver or divine power (SiW/xt?), as its source. 
Thus Jesus is represented as saying to his disciples : " Ye 
shall receive power when the Holy Ghost is come upon 
you ; and ye shall be my witnesses both in Jerusalem, 
and in all Judea and Samaria, and unto the uttermost 
part of the earth " (Acts i. 8 ; compare x. 38 ; 1 Cor. ii. 4 ; 
Eom. xv. 13, 19 ; Luke iv. 14). The adjective is used by 
.us to signify that in the act of inspiration the Holy Spirit 
energizes or empowers all the higher faculties of the human 
spirit (insight, reason, memory, conscience), so that divine 
truth may be rightly apprehended, recalled, and expressed. 



INSPIRATION OF PROPHETS AND APOSTLES. 175 

The divine Spirit works through the powers of the human 
spirit. 

Remark 2. — If we were to pause at this point our study 
could not be regarded as unfruitful. For we should have 
found a certain part, and indeed a very large and impor- 
tant part of the Bible, to be of divine authority. The 
Mosaic law including the book of Deuteronomy, some of 
the Psalms, and nearly all the sacred record from Isaiah 
to Malachi, especially all the Messianic portions of the 
Old Testament, besides two of the Gospels, thirteen letters 
of Paul, two of Peter, three of John, and the Keve- 
lation (not to claim the rest of the New Testament), 
would have been shown to be worthy of all confidence 
as truly from God. But we may take another step and 
consider : — 

G. The estimate put upon the Old Testament Scriptures 
oy the Apostles. — If our conclusions as to the effect of in- 
spiration on the apostles are correct, their estimate of the 
Old Testament must show its true character and value. 
If they speak of it as virtually the Word of God to men, 
and use it as a basis of religious teaching, we must regard 
them as ratifying its divine authority. For the substance 
of it pertains to religion ; and if divine inspiration taught 
the apostles anything correctly, it must have been how 
to speak of and use the sacred books of their nation. We 
turn, then, to their estimate of the Old Testament for 
instruction as to its value. 

1. Peter's estimate. — This may be gathered from the 
second Gospel (see Mark i. 1), from his addresses as pre- 
served in the Acts (i. 16, 20 ; ii. 16 sq. 23, 25, 30, 31 ; iii. 
18, 21-26; iv. 25 ; x. 43), and from his epistles (1 Pet. i. 
10-12, 16, 24, 25 ; ii. 6-8 ; iii. 6, 10-12, 15, 20 ; iv. 11 ; 2 
Pet. i. 19-21 ; ii. 16 ; iii. 2). There are other and numer- 



176 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

cms expressions in the Epistles of Peter that were bor- 
rowed from the Old Testament. All these show the high 
esteem which he had for that sacred volume, yet only 
incidentally and by way of inference. But two of the 
passages referred to above (viz. 1 Pet. i. 10-12 ; 2 Pet. i. 
19-21) contain valuable testimonies respecting the proph- 
ets of Israel whose messages are preserved in the Old 
Testament. For they teach, (a) that no prophet was able, 
by the most diligent search, to ascertain beforehand the 
time, or manner of time, in which God's salvation would 
appear ; (b) that no prophecy of Scripture was the proph- 
et's personal exposition of God's plan, or was a fruit of his 
own choice or will ; but (c) that the prophets received their 
messages from God ; (d) that they were moved by the 
Spirit of God to deliver them ; and (e) that the times and 
conditions of the fulfilment of their predictions were first 
to be known by those who should live when (or after) 
they were fulfilled. This the prophets themselves were 
made to understand. All these statements have an im- 
portant bearing on the character and value of the Old 
Testament, in so far as it was written or approved by the 
prophets : they point directly to the prophetic portions of 
that volume. We use the word " prophetic " in its broader 
sense, and not as synonymous with predictive. 

(2) Johns estimate of the Old Testament must be in- 
ferred from a few passages in the fourth Gospel and the 
Book of Bevelation. For he does not make any allusion 
to that volume in his epistles. In John i. 17 he says that 
" the law was given by Moses ; " and by " the law " we are 
probably to understand the legal code which fills so large 
a part of the Pentateuch. This code was transmitted 
through Moses to the Israelites from God, its holy author. 
In xii. 37 sq. it is written : " But though he had done so 



INSPIRATION OF PROPHETS AND APOSTLES. 177 

many signs before them, yet they believed not on him: 
that the word of Isaiah the prophet might be fulfilled 
which he spake, Lord, who hath believed our report ? 
And to whom hath the arm of the Lord been revealed ? 
For this cause they could not believe, for that Isaiah said 
again : He hath blinded their eyes, and he hardened their 
heart, etc. These things said Isaiah, because he saw his 
glory : and he spake of him." No higher endorsement of 
the prophet's word than this could be given. In xix. 24 
it is written : " They said therefore one to another, Let 
us not rend it, but casts lots for it, whose it shall be : 
that the Scripture might be fulfilled, which saith : They 
parted my garments among them, and upon my vesture 
did they cast lots." Obviously John regarded the words 
quoted by him as sacred, and as either directly or typi- 
cally prophetic of the event at the crucifixion which they so 
accurately describe. Again, in xix. 36, after narrating the 
examination of the soldiers, which convinced them that 
Jesus was already dead and that they need not break his 
legs, and after stating that one of the soldiers nevertheless 
pierced his side with a spear, this Evangelist says that 
" these things came to pass, that the Scripture might be 
fulfilled. A bone of him shall not be broken " (Ex. xii. 
46). And also another. "They shall look on him whom 
they pierced" (Zech. xii. 10). The remark subjoined to 
the preceding quotation is also applicable here. Of the 
Apocalypse Professor Toy remarks, that " while it has no 
direct quotations, it has adopted a great many Old Testa- 
ment expressions, commonly after the Septuagint " (p. 37 
of Introduction). 

(3) Matthew s estimate of the Old Testament was clearly 
as high as the estimate of Peter or of John. Indeed, it is 

evident that his Gospel abounds in references to the fulfil- 

12 



178 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

ment of prophecy beyond any other, and it is scarcely 
possible for any reader to call in question his reverence 
for the Hebrew Scriptures as divine. It would therefore 
be superfluous to cite any of the numerous passages 
which reflect his judgment on this point. 

(4) Paul's estimate. — In this case also we have far more 
material than can be profitably used. For the thirteen 
epistles of Paul contain more than 125 citations from the 
Old Testament, taken from Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, 
Numbers, Deuteronomy, Joshua, 2 Samuel, 1 Kings, Job, 
Psalms, Proverbs, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Hosea, Joel, 
Habakkuk, and Malachi. And the Epistle to the He- 
brews written by Paul or by some one who had imbibed 
his doctrine, has fifty-three quotations from the same 
volume. 

We may notice by way of illustration (1) his view of 
the Mosaic law (Rom. vii. 7-12 ; Gal. iii. 23, 24) ; (2) his 
view of ancient prophecy (Gal. iii. 8 ; Rom. ix. 25 sq. ; xi. 
26 sq.) ; and (3) his view of sacred history (Gal. iv. 21-31 ; 
1 Cor. x. 1-6). Nothing can be more evident than that 
Paul considered the contents of the Old Testament divine 
and trustworthy (compare Weiss, Bibl. Theo. I. pp. 377, 
378). But there is one passage in his writings which 
merits particular attention (viz. 2 Tim. iii. 14-17). In 
this passage " the sacred writings " must, if the article is 
genuine, mean a well-known collection of sacred writings, 
which could have been no other than that of the Old 
Testament. And even if the article be not genuine, Paul 
affirms that Timothy had known from a very early age 
" sacred writings that were able to make him wise unto 
salvation through faith in Christ Jesus," and there were 
no other writings, save those of the Old Testament, which 
the apostle could have meant. The Pharisees reverenced 



INSPIRATION OF PROPHETS AND APOSTLES. 179 

all parts of the Old Testament ; Paul was educated a Phar- 
isee, and his epistles furnish proof that faith in Christ did 
not diminish his confidence in the Old Testament. 

The 16th verse is closely connected with the loth, and 
" every Scripture inspired of God " must naturally mean 
every one of " the sacred Scriptures " which Timothy had 
known from childhood. The only other possible inter- 
pretation would make " every Scripture " signify " every 
passage of Scripture," instead of " every writing ; " but 
this does not fit the context as well, nor does it agree 
as well with the manner in which the New Testament 
writers uniformly treat the Old Testament. 

This passage defines the purpose of God in giving to 
men inspired Scriptures ; for it must be presumed that 
the Scriptures do the work that they were intended to do 
(Isa. 1\*. 11). And here they are characterized as "profit- 
able for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for instruction 
which is in righteousness : that the man of God may be 
complete, furnished completely unto every good work." 
Hence the teacher of Christian truth can find in the 
written Word all that he needs to qualify him for his 
work. Bishop Ellicott says of Holy Scripture, that " it 
teaches the ignorant, convicts the evil and prejudiced, cor- 
rects the fallen and erring, and trains in righteousness all 
men " (Bible Com. on this passage). Moral and religious 
influence by means of truth is the supreme object of 
inspiration. This is Paul's testimony. 

Remark. — We have followed the Eevised Version, but 
the Greek original may be translated as in the Common 
Version or as in the Eevised. In the Common Version 
the language affirms, in the Eevised it assumes, the inspi- 
ration of all Scripture. It is difficult to choose either as 
better than the other. 



180 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

Finally, Kichard Kothe affirms that all the writers of 
the New Testament, whether apostles or not, " consider 
the words of the Old Testament direct words of God, and 
quote them expressly as such. They see nothing in the 
Holy Book which is merely the word of its human author, 
and not at the same time God's own word " (" Dogmatik," 
p. 180). 

Christ's estimate. — This we have at second hand 
through the Evangelists. And even if their inspiration 
was limited to moral and religious truth, it surely em- 
braced their testimony as to Christ's estimate and en- 
dorsement of the Old Testament. And Professor Weiss 
correctly says that "Jesus never distinguished between 
the divine in the Old Testament and the human. .• . . To 
Him the whole volume was in its present form a revela- 
tion of the holy will of God. Man's need respecting it 
was simply to understand it, — understand it in this 
respect among others : that what God prescribed for his 
people and for the preparatory dispensation could not 
pass over with full authority into the completed kingdom 
of God" ("Andover Eeview," November, 1886, pp. 501, 

502). 

Summary. 

The results of our study in regard to the inspiration of 
prophets and apostles may be summed up in the following 
statements : — 

I. Their inspiration was in some respects sui generis. 
For it differed from that of other men equally devout (1) 
by enabling them to grasp the word or will of God with 
absolute assurance, (2) by assisting them to speak it as 
God's own message transmitted through them, and (3) by 
moving them to do this work of transmission with zeal 
and courage in the face of danger. 



INSPIRATION OF PROPHETS AND APOSTLES. 181 

II. Their inspiration qualified them to be teachers of 
religious truth, but not to be teachers of history, or 
science, or philosophy, though the events of history, the 
phenomena of nature, and the operations of mind, might 
be used in suggesting or enforcing religious truth. It is 
necessary to bear in mind the end and character of their 
work when we attempt to criticise the means which God 
led them to employ in doing it. The means may have 
been very good for the end sought, though unsuitable for 
the accomplishment of other ends. 

III. Their inspiration was dynamical, i. e. the Spirit of 
God operated in and through their own powers, so that 
what thev taught was throughout human as well as 
throughout divine. But their powers must have been 
more or less affected by the Zeitgeist, — the opinions, 
customs, tastes, and language of the times in which they 
severally lived. Hence the easy and natural adaptation 
of truth to those first addressed. Hence the educational 
method and a progressive revelation, without doubt the 
best possible for mankind, though imposing heavy tasks 
on the interpreter. 

IV. Their inspiration, ensuring the divine authority of 
their teaching, does not directly prove the equal authority 
of all parts of the Bible. Yet in the words of Christ and 
of the apostles, it does go far towards sanctioning the 
Old Testament as from first to last divine, and towards 
establishing a valid presumption in favor of the view that 
the whole Bible, when properly understood, is a revelation 
from God. Moreover, the theory of the nature of inspira- 
tion which has been suggested serves to account for and 
explain many difficulties in the sacred record. 



INSPIRATION OF THE SCEIPTUEES. 

/^"^UR object in the present study will be to describe 
^-^ some of the opinions which are entertained by 
students of the Bible respecting its inspiration, to criti- 
cise briefly those opinions, and to suggest, if possible, a 
view which agrees with all the facts. 

1. Verbal Inspiration. — It has been thought by many 
that the particular words employed by the sacred writers 
were all suggested to their minds by the Spirit of God. 
Not that they believe all parts of the Bible equally im- 
portant, as stating the divine truth, but that they regard 
the entire record as inspired, whether it is a record of 
human thoughts or of divine. False words may be in 
it, but they were really spoken, and in that sense are 
genuine and the report of them correct. Another word 
of explanation will be allowed. The Holy Spirit's sug- 
gestion of words or sentences is supposed to include ex- 
tracts from existing documents which are found in the 
Scriptures, though the original documents may not in 
all cases have been inspired. Thus, if the writer of the 
Chronicles quoted various passages from documents in the 
royal archives, but quoted them under the guidance of 
the informing Spirit, his record was just as trustworthy 
as it would have been if every particular word had been 
suggested to him by the Holy Spirit. Or if the Evangelist 
Mark wrote, the second Gospel without being inspired, 



INSPIRATION OF THE SCRIPTURES. 183 

and his narrative was then endorsed by the inspired 
Apostle Peter, it would be considered as no less trust- 
worthy than if written by Peter himself. This we believe 
to be an essentially correct account of verbal inspiration, 
as taught by many devout scholars ; and their purpose 
in this teaching has always been to vindicate the divine 
authority of the Bible in matters of religion. We say " in 
matters of religion," because we believe it capable of proof 
that they have deemed all other teaching of the Bible 
strictly subservient to its religious teaching, but have 
been unable to see how it can inculcate error in geography, 
or history, or chronology, without vitiating thereby its 
religious authority over men. 

2. Dynamic Inspiration. — This view is closely related 
to the preceding. But those who advocate it object to 
the term " verbal," as not giving sufficient prominence to 
the mental action of the sacred writer,, or to the coloring 
which his temperament, education, experience, and emo- 
tion at the time of writing give to what is written. They 
hold that the Divine Spirit did his work in and by the 
powers of the inspired writer, and thus recognize and 
emphasize the human qualities that appear in all the 
Sacred Writings. That the men were so fully inspired 
as to write according to the mind of the Spirit did not 
interfere in the slightest degree with their naturalness 
of style. The divine and human agency was one in the 
conscious action of the writer. In other words, the in- 
spired man thought and spoke in his own way under the 
influence of the Spirit, but more clearly, intensely, and to 
the point, than he otherwise could. And the influence of 
God upon his inner being was so powerful and clarifying 
that his words, properly interpreted, were free from error. 
This is meant by plenary inspiration. 



184 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

3. Religious Inspiration. — Many students of the Bible 
are dissatisfied with the preceding theories, on the ground 
that they fail to recognize in a proper manner the element 
of human imperfection and error which is said to pervade 
the volume. Nothing human can be perfect; and the Bible 
is human throughout, as well as divine in a certain direc- 
tion. Only a part of the full orb of truth can be revealed 
to the mind of man in his present state, and even that 
part must be revealed little by little. This is true of all 
the religious teaching of the Bible, and should be insisted 
on far more than it is. The teaching of the Bible is 
indeed correct as far as it goes, but it leaves many press- 
ing questions unanswered, and many regions of spiritual 
life dark. But the characteristic feature of the theory 
which we have called religious inspiration is yet to be 
described. That feature is the restriction of inspiration 
to matters of religion. The mind of the sacred writer 
is said to have been left to itself in secular matters, 
as history, topography, chronology, and physical science. 
Human error in respect to these is thought to have no 
important bearing on spiritual truth. It does not vitiate 
or weaken in any perceptible degree the moral lessons of 
the Bible. It belongs to a realm of knowledge so distinct 
from that of religious truth, that illumination in the one 
should not be expected to bring illumination in the other. 
Hence we are not to be troubled about mistakes in 
history or natural science, as they do not affect the trust- 
worthiness of the Bible as a guide to religious truth. 

4. Gracious Inspiration. — According to this view, in- 
spiration is common to all true servants of God. The 
more devout they are, the more highly inspired must 
they be called. For the influence of the Divine Spirit is 
always proportioned to growth in grace. The better the 



INSPIRATION OF THE SCRIPTURES. 185 

saint the greater the prophet or religious teacher. And 
conversely, the moral imperfection of any man carries 
with it imperfection in his teaching. Hence no religious 
teaching found in the Bible can be regarded as free from 
error, unless it be that of Jesus Christ ; and as his teach- 
ing has come to us through the minds of imperfectly 
sanctified disciples, it may be tinctured with error. Yet 
we may be tolerably sure that the percentage of error, 
compared with that of truth, is small. 

In comparing the first and second theories with the 
third, we must admit that either of them may be held 
with deep reverence for the Bible as a revelation of 
divine truth concerning the way of life, and, indeed, as 
the best practicable revelation of that truth. For the 
advocates of these theories are in accord respecting the 
object of revelation. They agree in looking upon that 
object as moral and religious, — the recovery of men from 
sin to holiness, and from death to life, — and in believing 
that the Bible teaches truth and not error, as to the means 
of effecting this recovery. But they differ from each 
other in their estimate of what the Bible says of things 
more or less connected with religion, while not essential 
to it. Advocates of the first two views are apt to believe 
that it would have been just as easy for God to preserve 
his messengers from historical as from religious errors, 
and that as they always speak with the same assurance, 
it is necessary to receive what they say as true in the one 
case as well as in the other. But advocates of the third 
view contend that a correction of accepted historical 
or scientific opinions would have discredited the messen- 
gers of God, or diverted attention from their religious 
teaching, and that entire accuracy in such matters would 
even now contribute nothing to the supreme object of the 



186 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

Bible, but would tend to make men worship the book 
rather than the God whom it reveals. Again, advocates of 
the first two views think it possible to account for nearly 
all the alleged errors of Scripture, by showing that they 
are not really errors at all, or that they have been brought 
into the text by copyists or translators. But advocates 
of the third view object to this explanation, and strenu- 
ously affirm the almost certain presence of unimportant, 
non-religious errors in the original text. 

A point is often made against the inerrancy of the 
original text of Scripture which we wish to answer at 
once. And that point is the assumption that a belief in 
the inerrancy of Scripture on all the subjects which it 
treats tends to bibliolatry. This seems to us an utterly 
baseless assumption. For neither history nor reason 
shows that men are more likely to worship an oak of the 
forest primeval, as it comes from the will of God through 
the processes of nature, than they are to worship a rude 
statue, carved by the hand of man. The superstitious 
soul is not over-particular about the perfection of what it 
worships. But every intelligent Christian believes that 
the revelation of God in nature is absolutely unerring as 
far as it reaches, yet he is not moved by this belief to 
worship nature, instead of God ; and we have never met 
a Christian who did not welcome any fresh evidence of 
the accuracy of biblical allusions to places or events. 
There is more danger, to-day, of undue reverence being 
paid to priests and churches than there is of its being 
paid to the Word of God. We have observed many 
proofs of the one, but none of the other. 



INSPIRATION OF THE SCRIPTURES. 187 

Examination of these Hypotheses. 

Four hypotheses concerning the inspiration of the 
Scriptures have been described ; namely, that it was 
verbal, that it was dynamic (and plenary), that it was 
religious, that it was gracious ; the first asserting that the 
Spirit of God suggested the words as well as the ideas of 
the sacred books to their writers ; the second, that the 
Spirit of God so pervaded and quickened the mental 
powers of those writers as to make their whole work 
divine-human; the third, that this action of the Spirit 
brought about a knowledge and communication of re- 
ligious truth, all other truth being gained by natural 
means ; and the fourth, that all renewed men have the 
same kind of inspiration, — the action of the Holy Spirit on 
their minds, — making their religious teachings pure and 
perfect in proportion to their growth in grace or personal 
holiness. These four hypotheses may be examined in 
the light of what the Bible itself says concerning the 
inspiration of prophets, apostles, and sacred writers ; in 
the light of what the sacred writers declare to be the 
authority, the substance, and the purpose of their teach- 
ing ; in the light of what is suggested by their methods of 
teaching as to its character and aim ; and in the light of 
such consistency and coherence as their teaching exhibits. 

First Light. — \Ve naturally begin with what the 
Bible itself says concerning the inspiration of prophets, 
apostles, and sacred writers. These three classes are put 
together, because the nature of their work w T as essen- 
tially the same, that is, making known to men the will 
of God, and also because many of the sacred writers were 
either prophets or apostles. This will be admitted by 
everv one who is familiar with the evidence. To men- 



188 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

tion but a single fact, more than half of the New Testa- 
ment was written by three great apostles, Peter, John, 
and Paul. Let no reader, then, pass over the following 
extracts from the Bible, on the ground that he has often 
read them, for they need to be closely scanned and 
thoughtfully weighed by every man who hopes to reach 
the truth as to the inspiration of Scripture. 

In his second letter to Timothy, Paul refers to the Old 
Testament: "But abide thou in the things which thou 
hast learned and hast been assured of, knowing of whom 
thou hast learned them, and that from a babe thou hast 
known the sacred writings which are able to make thee 
wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ 
Jesus. Every Scripture inspired of God is also profitable 
for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for instruction 
(or discipline) which is in righteousness ; that the man 
of God may be complete, furnished completely unto every 
good work" (iii. 14-17). This important testimony calls 
for two or three remarks. It is by no means certain that 
the Bevised Version, " Every Scripture inspired of God is 
also profitable," etc., should be preferred to the marginal 
reading, "Every Scripture is inspired of God, and profit- 
able," etc. Either is tenable, and only the context can 
decide which is correct. But the apostle certainly had 
in mind " the sacred writings " which Timothy had 
known from a child (i. e. those of the Old Testament), 
and " which were able to make him wise unto salvation 
through faith in Christ," and it is morally certain that 
he meant to pronounce every one of them God-inspired. 
They were sacred writings because they were God-in- 
spired, and for the same reason they were profitable for 
teaching. It is also evident that the teaching here 
referred to was that of Christian truth and duty, such 



INSPIRATION OF THE SCRIPTURES. 189 

teaching as Timothy, a man of God, was called to give. 
There is no reference to instruction in any other kind 
of knowledge. Yet this does not prove that events in 
nature or life may not have been employed, under the 
Spirit's influence, in illustrating religious truth and im- 
pressing it upon the minds of men. It merely shows 
that giving instruction in science or history was not 
a separate or even co-ordinate purpose of the sacred 
writings. 

In his Sermon on the Mount, Christ uses this striking 
language, " Think not that I came to destroy the law or 
the prophets : I came not to destroy, but to fulfil. For 
verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass away, 
one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass away from the 
law, till all things be accomplished " (Matt. v. 17-19). A 
more emphatic endorsement of the law and the prophets 
as being sacred and authoritative, can scarcely be im- 
agined. With it may be joined His answer to the Jews, 
as recorded by John, " Is it not written in your law, I 
said, Ye are gods ? If he called them gods, unto whom 
the Word of God came (and the Scripture cannot be 
broken), say ye of him, whom the Father sanctified and 
sent into the world, thou blasphemest, because I said, I 
am the Son of God?" (x. 34-36). Observe that this 
passage from one of the Psalms is said by Jesus to have 
been written in the Jewish law (" your law "), and is also 
represented as having supreme authority, — " the Scripture 
cannot be broken." 

Add to these declarations His words to the two dis- 
ciples on their way to Emmaus, " foolish men, and 
slow to believe in all that the prophets have spoken ! 
Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these 
things and enter into His glory ? And beginning from 



190 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND EELIGION. 

Moses and from all the prophets, he interpreted to them 
in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself" 
(Luke xxiv. 25-27). In the evening of the same day He 
said to the Eleven, " These are my words which I spake 
to you while I was yet with you, that all things must be 
fulfilled which are written in the law of Moses, and the 
Prophets, and Psalms concerning me " (xxiv. 44). It is 
perfectly evident that this language rests on a belief in 
the mind of Christ that there were statements respecting 
himself in the three well-known parts of the Old Testa- 
ment recognized by the Jews of that time, and that these 
statements foreshadowed events which, according to the 
eternal purpose and foreknowledge of God, must be ac- 
complished. 

We may now turn to passages of Scripture that refer 
to a certain class of men as inspired, for it is plain that 
their inspiration gave a divine quality and value to their 
teaching. In the second epistle of Peter there is an 
appeal to the transfiguration of Christ, which the writer 
had witnessed with others on the holy mount, and to the 
voice out of heaven which they had heard at that time. 
In consequence of that visible glory and wonderful voice, 
he says : " We have the prophetic word [made] more 
sure ; to which ye do well that ye take heed, as to a lamp 
shining in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the 
day-star arise in your hearts ; knowing this first, that 
no prophecy of Scripture comes of one's own interpre- 
tation ; for prophecy was never brought by the will of 
man ; but moved by the Holy Spirit, men spoke from 
God " (i. 19-21). This language appears to signify that 
no divine message recorded in the Scriptures sprang 
from the prophet's own interpretation of the mind of 
God, or was delivered to men by the prophet's own will, 



INSPIRATION OF THE SCRIPTURES. 191 

without the Spirit's influence ; on the contrary, men of 
this class received their messages from God and were 
moved by His Spirit to proclaim them. It is indeed pos- 
sible that the word " prophecy " is here used in the sense 
of prediction; but nothing requires us to give it this 
limited meaning, and it probably embraces every kind of 
religious teaching in the Old Testament which came 
directly from God. 

Equally positive is the language which Paul employs 
in affirming the divine origin of the gospel preached by 
him. " For I make known to you, brethren, as to the 
gospel that was preached by me, that it is not after man. 
For neither did I receive it from man, nor was I taught 
it, but through revelation of Jesus Christ" (Gal. i. 11, 12 ; 
compare verses 7-9). And with this may be connected 
his words to the Corinthians, " And we received, not the 
spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is from God, 
that we might know the things that were freely given to 
us by God. Which things also we speak, not in words 
taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the 
Spirit, combining spiritual things with spiritual " (1 Cor. 
ii. 12, 13). We must then conclude that the apostle's 
religious teaching was according to the mind of the Spirit, 
or that he overestimated its character and value. If the 
latter be true, he also overestimated the teaching of the 
older apostles, with whom he sometimes compared him- 
self. His mistake was not, therefore, a fruit of ambition, 
but of fanaticism ; he was honest but deluded, — a con- 
clusion which cannot be reconciled with the singular 
purity and sobriety of his writings. 

The testimony of John that he was " in the Spirit on 
the Lord's day," when the visions and voices described in 
the book of Eevelation entered his mind, may be accepted 



192 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

as evidence that he believed them to be from the Lord ; 
and the tone of absolute certainty which pervades the 
fourth Gospel and his Epistles, is readily explained by 
supposing that he was deeply conscious of the illumina- 
tion of the Spirit, according to the promise of Christ. 
For by that promise the disciples of Jesus had been 
assured of such help from " the Spirit of Truth," as would 
enable them to make a divinely appropriate defence 
when called before angry judges, to remember all the 
instructions which the Lord had given them during His 
ministry, to understand more perfectly than they had yet 
done the marvellous things pertaining to His nature and 
work, to foresee many future events in the reign of Christ, 
and to learn by degrees the whole truth concerning the 
way of life (Mark xiii. 11; John xiv. 26; xv. 26; xvi. 
7-15). It cannot be doubted, without doubting his 
authorship of the fourth Gospel, that John believed 
Christ to have promised all this to the eleven. Nor 
can it be doubted that he believed the promise to have 
been fulfilled long before he wrote the fourth Gospel. 

But may we not hold that the promise of the Spirit, 
made to the Eleven, was meant for all Christians in pre- 
cisely the same sense as it was meant for the apostles ? 
May we not hold that it was fulfilled to the Eleven, not 
in accordance with the exigencies of their work, but in 
proportion to their growth in grace ? And that it has 
been fulfilled in the same way to all Christians, from the 
day of Pentecost to the present hour ? We cannot deem 
this a fair interpretation of the words of Christ, or of the 
history of their fulfilment in the church. There are, in- 
deed, a few expressions which, taken by themselves, 
would favor such an interpretation, but none of them are 
decisive. Jesus said to the Jews at a certain feast, " He 



INSPIRATION OF THE SCRIPTURES. 193 

that belie veth on Me, as the Scripture hath said, out of 
his belly shall flow rivers of living water. But this He 
spake of the Spirit which they that believed on Him were 
to receive " (John vii. 38, 39). This language, though 
emphatic, does not even tend to prove that the Spirit's 
work in all believers must be precisely the same ; it only 
shows that his work will not remain hidden in the soul, 
but will flow out into the world in streams of blessing. 
And the Apostle Paul, after speaking of several extra- 
ordinary gifts which were imparted to certain members 
of the church for the common good, proceeds to exalt 
faith, hope, and love, as superior to them all. Knowledge 
is imperfect at best, though useful, but love is indispen- 
sable and eternal. (See 1 Cor., 12th, 13th, and 14th 
chapters.) A diversity of spiritual gifts is therefore in 
harmony with the Holy Spirit's presence in every Chris- 
tian heart. For not all were called to the same work, or 
equipped for the same warfare. There were apostles and 
prophets, as well as pastors and deacons, in the primitive 
churches. 

And if we look again at the particulars enumerated in 
the Saviour's promise, it will be seen that the Spirit of 
Truth was to prepare the apostles for a definite work, — 
a work which required of them knowledge of Christ and 
ability to make him known. They were to be teachers 
in a most eminent sense, and every aspect of the promise 
recorded by John suggests that the Holy Spirit was to 
guide them into the whole truth. Not, however (unless 
we forget the connection of this promise with the whole 
mission of Christ, and the substance of his preaching in 
Galilee, Samaria, and Judea), into all scientific or his- 
torical truth, but into all Christian truth. If any other 

truth was taught it was incidental to this. 

13 



194 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

By this brief survey of the claims which the Scriptures 
make to inspiration, we think it has been shown that the 
religious teaching of the Bible — to say nothing at present 
of other matters — is presumably divine. To pronounce 
it simply human is to class its writers with enthusiasts, 
and to declare that the Christian consciousness of Paul or 
of John was less trustworthy than our own. We are not 
prepared to take this step. We do not think there is 
any reason to take it. Properly interpreted, the religious 
teaching of the Bible is right and good, and the best men 
will return to it with unspeakable satisfaction to the end 
of time. At this hour, as we earnestly trust, there is more 
devout study given to the sacred record than ever before, 
and the result will be a better knowledge of its inex- 
haustible riches in holy truth. 

Eeference has been made to a few expressions of Christ 
and of his apostles which show that they considered the 
Old Testament Scriptures sacred and authoritative. But 
there has been nO attempt to present all the evidence on 
this point. Only a small part of it could be adduced. 
Eeference has been also made to the words of Peter con- 
cerning the inspiration of ancient prophets, to the words 
of Paul concerning the source of his knowledge of the 
gospel, and to the words of Christ promising the Spirit 
of Truth to the Eleven. And three facts were seen to be 
embraced in this testimony : one, that the inspiration of 
the Scriptures was due to the inspiration of their writers, 
or of those whose words were written ; another, that the 
special object of inspiration was to qualify men to receive 
and proclaim religious truth ; and a third, that the kind 
of inspiration which is the subject of our present inquiry, 
was neither universal in the Apostolic churches nor pro- 
portioned to growth in grace. The inspiration which was 



INSPIRATION OF THE SCRIPTURES. 195 

imparted to all Christians had its fruit in "love, joy, 
peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faith, meekness, 
self-control " (Gal. v. 22), or more briefly, in " faith, hope, 
love " (1 Cor. xiii. 13), but the inspiration which gave to 
one a word of wisdom, to another a word of knowledge, 
to this man a gift of healing, to that a gift of prophecy, 
and to a third a gift of discerning spirits, or tongues, or 
the interpretation of tongues, was assigned to each one by 
the Holy Spirit, according to his own will. They were 
special gifts, not essential to growth in grace, but needed 
at that time for the highest good of the church. The 
apostle's discussion of "spiritual gifts" in the 12th and 
14th chapters of 1 Corinthians is of prime importance in 
studying the inspiration of the Scriptures. Thus the 
fourth hypothesis concerning inspiration must be rejected, 
and only the first three deserve further examination. 

Second Light. — These three hypotheses concerning the 
inspiration of the sacred writers, and especially the hy- 
pothesis that inspiration was a peculiar influence of the 
Spirit of God on those spiritual powers of men which are 
employed in discerning, in retaining, and in declaring 
religious truth, may be further examined by the light of 
what these writers claim in respect to the authority, the 
substance, and the purpose of their teaching. The writers 
of the New Testament do not indeed often assert, in so 
many words, the divine authority of their teaching. But 
it is fair to assume that most of them had no occasion to 
do this. For Paul, the only apostle whose authority is 
known to have been called in question by those to whom 
he wrote, did this repeatedly. He vigorously asserted his 
equality with the other apostles by testifying that his 
gospel had been revealed to him by Jesus Christ, and by 
denouncing any different gospel as false, though it were 



196 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

preached by an angel from heaven. Yet all the New 
Testament writers speak with a tone of absolute con- 
fidence. In this respect their language is like that of 
the Old Testament prophets, and indeed like that of 
Jesus Christ himself. Take, for example, the Epistle to 
the Hebrews. The writer does not give his name or say 
anything about his inspiration ; but what ingenuous 
reader fails to perceive a note of finality in every line 
and paragraph of the letter, — a certain undertone of 
divine authority in declaring the principles of Christian 
truth and in expounding the words of ancient Scripture, 
which is equivalent to the plainest assertion of such 
authority ? The same may be said of the Epistles of 
Peter, James, and Jude, as well as of the writings of 
John and of the first two Evangelists. And not much 
less may be affirmed of the Gospel of Luke and the Acts 
of the Apostles. A tone and spirit of distinct certainty, 
scarcely distinguishable from authority, pervade these 
historical records. 

Turning to the Old Testament, the following facts de- 
serve attention. First, the writers of the principal books 
are not expressly named. This is true of all the his- 
torical, and of most of the poetic and prophetic books. 
Second, there is evidence that many of the prophets put 
in writing some, if not all, of their messages from God. 
This was true of Moses (Ex. xxiv. 4 ; Num. xxxiii. 2 ; 
Deut. xxxi. 9, 22 ; John v. 46, 47), of Samuel (1 Sam. x. 
25; 1 Chron. xxix. 29) , of Elijah (2 Chron. xxi. 12), of 
Isaiah (Isa. viii. 1 ; xxx. 8 ; 2 Chron. xxvi. 22), of Jere- 
miah (Jer. xxxvi. 4 ; li. 60 ; xxix. 1 sq.) y of Ezekiel (Ez. xliii. 
11), and of Habakkuk (Hab. ii. 2). Some of them, as 
Samuel, Nathan, Gad, Shemaiah, and Isaiah, wrote annals 
or histories of certain kings, as David, Solomon, Uzziah 



INSPIRATION OF THE SCRIPTURES. 197 

(1 Chron. xxix. 29 ; 2 Chron. ix. 20 ; xxvi. 22). Third, 
according to Josephus, the Jewish sacred books were 
written by " the prophets who had learned the most 
exalted and ancient things according to the inspiration 
of God, and had recorded the events occurring in their 
own times, wisely, as they happened" (c. Apion, I. 8). 
It is possible to make too much of this statement, but 
Josephus was certainly an educated Jew, and his lan- 
guage may fairly be supposed to represent the common 
belief of his countrymen at the time of Christ. Fourth, 
large portions of the Old Testament purport to be the 
words of prophets who delivered them to the people as 
messages from God. This is true of nearly all the record 
from Isaiah to Malachi. The historical sections are com- 
paratively brief, though often highly important. In other 
parts of the volume, history or sacred song is the principal 
element. But the law of Moses in the Pentateuch claims 
to have been received from God by him, and he was a 
prophet. Fifth, a tone of intense sincerity, strongly sug- 
gestive of divine impulse and control, is characteristic of 
these writings, so that it is easier to believe their authors 
inspired than to believe them uninspired. And all the 
facts known to us are consistent with this belief, if inspi- 
ration is understood to have had for its object the teaching 
of religious truth. 

The hypothesis that " inspiration was a peculiar influ- 
ence of the Spirit of God on those powers of men which 
are employed in receiving, retaining and declaring religious 
truth," has been supported by appealing to the authority 
which the sacred writers claim in teaching such truth. 
If it was the object of inspiration to qualify them to 
teach that kind of truth their language and tone are 
wholly natural. 



198 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

But was this its object ? What do the sacred writers 
appear to consider the substance of their teaching, the 
sum of all which they have to fix in the hearts of men ? 
Is it not religious truth, — a knowledge of the way of 
life ? For this truth embraces, (1) a knowledge of the 
one God, holy and merciful, the Maker and Kuler of all 
things ; (2) a knowledge of men in rebellion against 
God, with all the persistency and ruinous effect of that 
rebellion upon character and life ; and (3) a knowl- 
edge of what God has done, and of what men must do, 
in order to a restoration of peace between the gracious 
Father and his unfaithful children. Is it difficult to dis- 
cover in any part of the Bible evidence that it was meant 
to teach or illustrate some portion of this truth ? Is there 
any piece of history, or biography, or legislation from the 
first verse of Genesis to the last verse of Eevelation, which 
cannot properly be referred to one of these divisions of 
religious truth ? Is there any prediction or promise, any 
admonition or threatening, any argument or appeal, any 
parable or psalm, any prayer or confession, any rite or 
form of worship, which does not illustrate the mind of 
God in relation to men, or the character of men in rela- 
tion to God ? Especially clear is it, that every word of 
Scripture which relates to Jesus Christ is religious in the 
deepest and broadest sense, since we see in him the clear- 
est revelation of the true nature of God and the true 
nature of man, and learn at the same time the actual con- 
dition of men, together with the way of their recovery to 
a normal and blessed state. 

If any part of the Bible ought to be made an exception 
to what has now been said, it must be the book of Esther. 
But whatever surprise is occasioned by a lack of express 
reference to God in that book, no one can read it without 



INSPIRATION OF THE SCRIPTURES. 199 

seeing the hand of the Lord in the deliverance of his peo- 
ple, scattered through the Persian empire, from complete 
destruction. And whatever censure may be justly passed 
on the conduct of Ahasuerus, or Mordecai, or Esther, it 
will be observed that the writer does not commend their 
conduct or declare any one of them to have acted in 
obedience to a divine command. The book should there- 
fore be read and judged as a fragment of Jewish history, 
composed by an unknown author, and fitted to remind men 
of an overruling Providence. As teaching such a lesson, 
it was given by devout Israelites, with some hesitation, 
a place in their collection of sacred writings. Whether 
inspired or uninspired men gave it this place in the first 
instance, w T e do not certainly know, but it was classed 
with those writings in the time of Christ, and we are 
ignorant of any sufficient reason for relegating it to a 
lower rank, or, in other words, for thinking that the great 
lesson of the book is not religious. 

But there is another point of view from which we can 
study the nature and effect of inspiration, namely, the 
purpose for which it was given. And by the word " pur- 
pose " is now meant, not the immediate, but the ultimate 
object of the gift. Thus explained, the purpose of inspi- 
ration was not instruction, but persuasion. It was not 
given to certain men for their own private illumination, 
or for the mere instruction through them of other men, 
but it was given to prophets and apostles that they might 
move men to repentance and faith. The object of it was 
not to make men theologians, but to make them Chris- 
tians. Truth was revealed with a view to the formation of 
holy character. For knowledge is a means, not an end. 
When sought as an end the attainment of it is dangerous, 
and the apostle was constrained to write to the Corinth- 



200 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

ians, " Knowledge puffs up, love builds up." There is, 
however, a knowledge of God and of His Son, Jesus Christ, 
which is eternal life, but it is a knowledge of the heart 
quite as much as of the head ; it is spiritual appreciation, 
devotion, fellowship ; it is a perfect blending of holy dis- 
cernment and love ; and this kind of knowledge is the 
highest good attainable by men. It brings God so near 
that self is lost sight of. It is rooted in character and 
transfused with trust and love. We must, therefore, think 
of it as something far warmer and richer and deeper than 
mere intelligence. It is the whole inner man restored to 
communion with God. 

But if the purpose of inspiration was to qualify men 
for the work of persuading the wicked to forsake his way 
and turn unto the Lord, that is, for the work of appealing 
to conscience and heart, it will be easy to account for 
many things in the Bible which, on any other theory, 
would be inexplicable. One of these is the moral earnest- 
ness of the prophets and apostles. As a rule, they were 
men who deeply felt the truth and importance of their 
messages. And we can see that if God wished to present 
His truth to men in such a way as to affect their lives, it 
was necessary for him to do this through messengers who 
were profoundly anxious to have the people obey the 
truth. In no ordinary circumstances, therefore, could a 
bad man be a good prophet. His soul would not be in 
the work. His conscience and will would impart no life 
to his words. He might serve as a priest, but he could 
not do the work of a prophet. 

Third Light. — Another thing which confirms this view 
of inspiration, is the methods of religious teaching which 
characterised inspired men, and especially the very slow 
progress which was made in revealing truth before the 



INSPIRATION OF THE SCRIPTURES 201 

coming of Christ. For every prophet was more or less 
a product and child of his time, imbued with the moral 
and religious sentiments of his people. To have lifted 
any one of them quite out of his environment, giving him 
the spirit and point of view of a later generation, would 
have been a sheer and perhaps a useless miracle. There 
is no reason to believe that God chose to do this. And 
if not, his messengers must have been able to serve with 
all the heart, because the truth which they were called 
to preach was such as they, in their day, could receive 
and appreciate, because the revelations made to them at 
any given time were not too far in advance of their religi- 
ous condition. The prophets were always leaders of the 
people in religious progress, but leaders raised by the 
Spirit of God from the ranks of the people, and affected 
at a thousand points by their influence. 

The methods of inspired teaching also include the fre- 
quent use of typical prophecy. For this kind of prophecy 
deals with the present as well as with the future ; it looks 
at things near, but sees in them signs and pledges of 
things remote. The prophet is at work among his own 
people, intensely concerned for their good, but that people 
has a future of higher spiritual tone which is revealed to 
him dimly in the present, and 'his language borrows from 
it a sweep and quality which it would not otherwise 
possess. The present blends with the future, and in a 
certain sense is transfigured by it. Yet the prophet lives 
and suffers and pleads with the men of his own age. He 
beseeches them to be reconciled to God. He is intent 
upon their salvation. He comes to them with a message 
from Jehovah ; but it is a message of practical, not of 
speculative truth, and he is a preacher rather than a 
teacher. Any foregleams of a better day are so connected 



202 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

with religious life as to strengthen his arguments for 
repentance. Any premonitions of ultimate doom are so 
linked with sin against God as to enforce His denuncia- 
tion of present rebellion. 

In general, while the sacred writers seem to have been 
indifferent to philosophical questions and systematic 
statements of religious truth, their methods of popular 
instruction and appeal were as various as diversities of 
temperament, of early training, of later experience, of 
social environment, and of national vicissitude, would 
be likely to make them. Their references to nature, to 
current events, and to inward conflict or joy, were free 
and forcible. No kind of powerful address was neglected. 
The language of Hebrew prophets was rarely calm and 
never dull. Fervors of devotion to God were often suc- 
ceeded by torrents of indignation at sin. But the stream 
of discourse was never sluggish or aimless. We meet 
with exultation and scorn, with pathos and lamentation, 
with proverbs and dark sayings, with narratives and 
parables, with allegory and fable, with epic poetry and 
song, but all forms of utterance are alive with energy 
and purpose, with thoughts of God and duty, with hopes 
of pardon and true life. No literature in the world is 
so multiform and free, and at the same time so vitally 
one in spirit, as the sacred literature of Israel. The 
message of an ancient prophet, or the psalm of an in- 
spired poet, is seen to be charged with deep feeling as 
well as with high thought. The letter of a Paul or 
Peter, of a James or Jude, is instinct with holy desire 
as well as with divine truth. In a word, the methods 
of inspiration are not didactic but persuasive, agreeing 
perfectly with our account of its nature and effect. 

And the circumstance that the view which regards 



INSPIRATION OF THE SCRIPTURES. 203 

inspiration as a peculiar influence of the divine Spirit 
on those powers of men which are employed in receiv- 
ing and proclaiming religious truth, accords with the 
methods of sacred literature better than any other, is 
an evidence of its correctness. 

Fourth Light. — This arises from the consistency and 
coherence of biblical truth. And here it must be borne in 
mind that the Bible is made up of many books, written by 
different men scattered through a period of fifteen hundred 
years ; that the writers belonged to all grades of civil and 
social life, and displayed the greatest diversity of taste and 
talent, some being legislators, some historians, some poets, 
some sages ; and that, during the long period named, the 
character and religion of the Hebrew people were sub- 
jected to many and various influences and made to 
assume many and contradictory forms. For a long time 
this singular nation was ready to forsake the God of its 
fathers and become like the heathen round about; and 
not until its return from Babylon was it weaned from 
the love of pagan fellowship. Then its religious life 
degenerated after a time into ritualism, asceticism, or 
scepticism. Never was there unity of faith among the 
people. Yet a succession of writers, raised up in this 
nation, put on record for future ages a body of religious 
truth singularly positive, practical, and consistent, — a 
body of truth which the best men now study with deep 
reverence and satisfaction, and which, as certain sceptics 
have avowed, proves the Hebrews to have had a re- 
markable genius for religion. 

Nothing is more worthy of admiration than the positive 
manner in which the existence of but one living and true 
God is asserted. From the time of Abraham to that of 
John, the last apostle, polytheism surrounded the chosen 



204 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

people. No other nation affirmed that its own god was 
the only god. Indeed, it was rarely the case that a nation 
confined its worship to one god. Polytheism was almost 
universal. And the Israelites were not unwilling to prac- 
tise it. During a large part of their career as a nation 
many of the people were eager to follow the idolatrous 
customs of Egypt or Syria, of Tyre or Babylon. But with 
one voice the sacred writers proclaim the unity of God. 
" There is no God but Jehovah ! " is their watchword from 
first to last. And he is Creator as well as Euler. He is 
holy as well as supreme. His counsel which is right will 
stand, and he will do all his pleasure. There is no power 
in nature, no malice in Satan, no evil in man, that can 
thwart his purpose, or bring to nought the plan which 
he has formed. By flood or flame, famine or pestilence, 
angelic ministry or human service, he is able to bring to 
pass his wise decree, and his people are taught to look 
upon his covenant of mercy with them as " ordered in all 
things and sure." Yet his power is that of a person and 
not that of an element ; his action springs from choice 
and not from necessity. There is nothing in his reign 
akin to that of blind fate. Knowledge, feeling, purpose, 
choice, love, goodness, pervade all that he does ; and the 
certainty with which he moves onward to the achieve- 
ment of holy deeds does not conflict in any instance with 
the moral freedom of mankind. There may be expres- 
sions here and there which seem to be incompatible with 
this lofty view of Jehovah ; for no writers are bolder than 
those who penned the sacred Scriptures, no writers seem 
to be more fearless of misinterpretation or more intent on 
making the truth in hand impressive, no writers are less 
given to qualifying their strong language lest it be mis- 
understood or perverted, — but the total impression of 



INSPIRATION OF THE SCRIPTURES. 205 

their words has been fairly described. And it is at once 
powerful, unique, and unaccountable, unless we admit 
that they were inspired by the Spirit of the living God. 

Scarcely less remarkable is their moral teaching. " The 
strict subordination of ethics to theology " has been noticed 
by Mr. Eogers (" The Superhuman Origin of the Bible," 
p. 20) as a marked peculiarity of biblical teaching. The 
foundations of morality, he remarks, " are laid in the idea 
of God and our relations to him ; its sanctions are derived 
from his will." " The great commands of the second table, 
the duties we owe to our fellow-men and ourselves, are 
here ultimately based on the relations in which all crea- 
tures stand to him who demands our homage in the first 
table." But this subordination of ethics to theology, 
though quite as evident in the teaching of the Old Testa- 
ment as in that of the New, need not prevent our looking 
at the moral teaching of the ancient Scriptures by itself. 
And that teaching will be found, in most respects, singu- 
larly pure and self-consistent. If it be not in every in- 
stance as clear and exalted as that of Christ and his 
apostles, it always looks in the same direction and seeks 
the same ends. If some practices were suffered under the 
Mosaic dispensation which do not agree with the perfect 
morality taught by Christ, they were not encouraged or 
pronounced right and good, they were not introduced or 
honored, but were simply tolerated on account of the 
hardness of the people's hearts, and in various ways 
checked as rapidly as possible. This is true of private 
revenge, of polygamy, of divorce at will, and of slavery. 
The tendency of Mosaic legislation was against every one 
of these. But if we look away from the evils that were 
deeply intrenched in social life and supported by self- 
interest, prejudice, and custom, and consider the prin- 



206 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

ciples of morality distinctly taught in the Old Testament, 
we shall find these principles to be exceedingly compre- 
hensive and just. Looking at the second table, we shall 
be able to say with Paul, " He that loves another has ful- 
filled the law. . . . Love works no ill to his neighbor; 
therefore love is the fulfilment of the law." Thus the 
apostle finds in the second table (Rom. xiii. 9, 10), sup- 
plemented, perhaps, by a passage of Leviticus, the best 
rule of morals for human society ever yet propounded, — 
the same rule, in fact, which Christ adduced in his answer 
to the lawyer (Matt. xxii. 37-40). 

Moreover, it is noticeable that the later books of the 
Old Testament emphasize more and more the strictly 
moral principles of the law. It was the tendency of the 
unrenewed heart, then as now, to pay tithes of mint, 
anise, and cummin, while forgetting the weightier matters 
of the law, — judgment, mercy, and truth. Hence the 
prophets were sent to reassert and expound the eternal 
principles of equity revealed to Moses, and their messages 
were often radiant with light and full of power. Nor is 
there any discord in their teaching. Falsehood, oppres- 
sion, dishonesty, hypocrisy, are everywhere denounced as 
terrible sins ; while integrity, sincerity, just dealing, and 
kindness to the poor, are always pressed upon heart and 
conscience as the will of God. In a word, the current of 
ethical teaching in the Old Testament flows in the same 
direction with that of Jesus Christ, though it does not 
furnish so perfect an ideal of the social and civil life 
which will be seen when the will of God is done on earth 
as it is done in heaven. • 

In like manner, it could be shown that the sacred 
writers agree in their teaching as to the moral condition 
of mankind and as to the way of salvation. But it is 



INSPIRATION OF THE SCRIPTURES. 207 

unnecessary to produce the evidence of this. For none 
will deny that, according to their testimony, all men are 
lost by reason of sin, and must be saved, if at all, by 
divine grace. Yet the consistency of their independent 
teaching on these cardinal points — the being of God, 
the law of duty, the fact of sin, and the way of salvation 

— can only be accounted for by such an inspiration of 
the writers as we have described. 

Objections. — According to the view of inspiration which 
we have tried to explain, it was an influence of the Spirit 
of God on those powers of men which are concerned in 
the reception, retention, and expression of religious truth, 

— an influence so pervading and powerful that the teach- 
ing of inspired men was according to the mind of God. 
Their teaching did not in any instance embrace all truth 
in respect to God, or man, or the way of life ; but it com- 
prised just so much of the truth on any particular subject 
as could be received in faith by the inspired teacher and 
made useful to those whom he addressed. In this sense, 
the teaching of the original documents composing our 
Bible may be pronounced free from error. But there are 
objections to this view. 

1. On the ground that it ascribes too little influence 
to the Holy Spirit in fixing the form of Scripture. Ad- 
vocates of a strictly verbal inspiration sometimes press 
this objection, being reluctant to admit that the style 
and vocabulary of the sacred books must be traced back 
to their writers. Yet the evidence of this fact is too 
strong to be refuted, and the peril of yielding to it is 
imaginary. For almost every conceivable truth can be 
expressed by more than one form of speech. Paul and 
John did not use identical language in teaching the same 
doctrine. And it is surely safe to hold that inspired men 



208 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

were empowered to perceive religious facts, duties, and 
principles so clearly that they could express them without 
error in their own variant and imperfect diction. 

2. But it is also objected to this view, that it ascribes 
too little influence to the Spirit of God in fixing the sub- 
stance of Scripture. Only the religious teaching of the 
Bible is said to be determined by inspiration, and, of 
course, only that is authoritative. But even this objec- 
tion is, perhaps, less conclusive than it seems. For the 
one great reason why Christians wish to find the Bible 
trustworthy in non-religious matters, is their desire to 
find it perfectly trustworthy in religious matters. If 
they could see their way clear to a rational belief of its 
freedom from error in declaring religious truth, without 
insisting at the same time upon its perfect accuracy in 
other things, they would doubtless be satisfied. But they 
feel their need of a revelation from God concerning the 
life and well-being of the soul, which is as ultimate and 
reliable as God's revelation of physical order and well- 
being in nature. And with the high claims to divine 
authority which the Scriptures make, they are confident 
that God has given them such a revelation. They are 
right. God has done precisely this. We believe that the 
Scriptures reveal to us the bed-rock of religious truth. 
But their direct claims relate, as we have seen, to reli- 
gious teaching; and so the question, whether correctness 
of religious teaching implies correctness in all references 
to nature and history, remains to be answered. 

Let us approach the question by means of a somewhat 
similar case. Jesus Christ taught the truth by parables. 
But do we say that every point in a parable must have 
had a distinct meaning, so that a dozen lessons were taught 
by a single parable ? Do we not rather, in many cases, 



INSPIRATION OF THE SCRIPTURES. 209 

say that the parable was meant to teach a single lesson ? 
And that the details were introduced, not for the purpose 
of teaching, that is, of teaching a particular truth by each 
one of them, but for the purpose of giving life and inter- 
est to the picture, in order that its one great lesson might 
be fixed in the mind forever ? Are we, then, sure that 
the religious lesson would have been different if the de- 
tails had been somewhat different ? Would the lesson of 
the Parable of the Sower have been really changed, if the 
Lord had said, " Others fell on good ground, and yielded 
fruit, some eighty-fold, some fifty, some twenty," instead 
of saying, "some a hundred fold, some sixty, some 
thirty ? " We think not. The fact that the amount of 
th'e crop depends very greatly on the quality and condi- 
tion of the soil would have been expressed just as clearly 
in the one case as in the other, and would have illustrated 
with equal truth the corresponding fact in religious life. 

In like manner it seems to us possible that references 
to history may be inexact as far as chronology, or succes- 
sion, or magnitude of transactions is concerned, and yet 
be perfectly truthful in the religious lessons which they 
inculcate. It is in general of no consequence whether a 
given doctrine was revealed in the morning or at noon or 
in the evening ; whether it was addressed to one person 
to ten persons or to a thousand; whether it was repeated 
many times, or announced distinctly once for all. Espe- 
cially important is it to remember that history is never 
complete as a record of facts. At best, it is only a selec- 
tion of representative actions and events ; and its value 
depends on the end for which that selection is made, and 
the judgment of the person who makes it. 

For example, none of the Evangelists claim to give a 
complete history of what the Saviour said and did in the 

14 



210 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

years of his public life. They furnish selections only ; 
sketches of certain miraculous events, extracts from a few 
discourses, samples of parabolic instruction, and snatches 
of dialogue suggesting hardly more than the points of 
debate. The full story of Christ's life during a single 
week would have filled the pages of a book larger than 
the New Testament. What the Evangelists meant to 
give was " the truth, and nothing but the truth," but not 
" the whole truth," for no history can do that. Look at a 
simple illustration. The superscription which was placed 
on the cross over Jesus by the order of Pilate, read, 
according to Mark, " The King of the Jews ; " according 
to Luke, " This is the King of the Jews ; " according to 
Matthew, "This is Jesus the King of the Jews;" and 
according to John, " Jesus of Nazareth the King of the 
Jews." All the Evangelists give the essential fact, — the 
accusation. And that is all which any reader of the 
Gospels needs, though strangers who were passing by that 
day may have wished to see the name of the sufferer as 
well as the accusation against him. The entire super- 
scription in Hebrew, in Latin, and in Greek, may have 
contained every word given by the several Evangelists 
combined, — namely, "This is Jesus of Nazareth, the King 
of the Jews ; " but the only thing of importance to readers 
of the Gospels was the accusation, which is given in all of 
them. The rest was really, though not formally given, 
by saying that this " accusation " or " title " was set in 
writing " over " (Mark), or " over him " (Luke), or " over 
his head " (Matt.), or " on the cross " (John), the context 
in every case stating that Jesus was referred to. How 
blind, then, to the nature and laws of historical veracity 
must be a writer who can say that, " whichever of these 
four superscriptions may be regarded by the reader as the 



INSPIRATION OF THE SCRIPTURES. 211 

real one, the other three must be acknowledged as so 
many manifestations of error in Scripture." Yet this 
astonishing language is used by Macnaught in a volume 
"On Inspiration" (p. 38). 

And no less imaginary are nineteen-twentieths of the 
errors in history, topography, and science, which are at- 
tributed to the sacred writers. If the other twentieth 
seem to be more real, may we not fairly ask : Did not the 
supreme object of inspiration and the necessity of brevity 
and force in addressing the people, render the admission 
of them wise and practically unavoidable ? Would not a 
careful correction of current historical and scientific beliefs 
have turned the minds of men away from the religious 
lesson to be impressed, by exciting curiosity, if not dis- 
trust, concerning the writer's novel views in history or 
science ? If Paul wished to remind the Galatians that a 
long period had elapsed between the giving of the promise 
to Abraham and the giving of the law to Moses, might 
he not, under the influence of the all-wise Spirit, follow 
the Septuagint, which was doubtless the Bible of his 
readers, and speak of that period as four hundred and 
fifty years, though it may have been over six hundred 
years ? His argument did not depend on the precise 
length of time, and in round numbers, according to the 
shortest and best-known reckoning, that time was four 
hundred and fifty years. Probably it was more, but if 
Paul had given the larger number, it might have led to 
perplexity and discussion about a matter which had really 
nothing to do with the vital question in hand. If he had 
been writing a work on chronology, exactness in dates 
and periods of time would have been of prime importance. 
But he was not, and the methods of a chronologist are not 
to be demanded of him. We are persuaded that Professor 



212 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

Green, of Princeton, is right in affirming that the sacred 
writers do not attempt to give the data for a chronology 
of mankind before the time of Abraham. Nor do they do 
this of set purpose after his time. Their purpose is moral 
and religious, not historical, and it is unjust to expect of 
them anything by way of history which does not bear 
directly on that purpose. If they have selected or com- 
bined the materials of their story in such a way as to 
blacken the characters of good men or palliate the sins 
of bad men, they are unworthy of confidence ; but this is 
exactly what no just critic suspects them of doing. It is 
safe to affirm that the literature of mankind contains no 
biographical sketches which are so manifestly outspoken 
and sincere as those preserved in the Bible, and that no 
explanation of this singular fact is so credible as the one 
which supposes them to have been written or selected by 
men controlled by the Spirit of God. 

It is, therefore, our belief that the Sacred Scriptures, 
rightly interpreted from beginning to end as the record of 
a progressive revelation of God to man, of man to himself, 
and of spiritual life to all who will accept it, will lead to 
truth without error, and will justify that revelation, as 
one that gave to those addressed by it, in each particular 
age, the religious truth most needed by them, in the best 
available form for reaching the heart and purifying the 
life. This sentence is long, but we cannot make it shorter 
and express the precise meaning intended. 

" As a linguist, no less than as a theologian, I here ex- 
press my belief that the New Testament is inspired in 
such a sense that every word of it is of value as the vital 
form in which the revelation of God has been made. It 
is not so much human and Divine as Divine-human in 
every part. The Divine inspiration unites in living union 



INSPIRATION OF THE SCRIPTURES. 213 

God's thought and human language : and things which 
are alive have life in the minutest cell." — Prof. M. B. 
Riddle (Independent). 

3. Objection is also made to the view of inspiration 
defended by us, on the ground that it ascribes too much 
influence to the Spirit of God in determining the religious 
teaching of Scripture. For that influence, it is said, did 
not prevent the sacred writers from inculcating positive 
error, as well as only a part of the truth. Especially is it 
urged that diversities of expression, when studied with 
microscopic fidelity, reveal essential differences of religious 
belief, even among the apostles of Christ (to say nothing 
of other teachers), and these differences are so certain 
and radical, as to make any search for underlying har- 
mony vain. Thus Paul was the antagonist of all the 
earlier apostles, and particularly of Peter and James, in 
regard to the very substance of Christian doctrine, — the 
way of acceptance with God. Much more was he the 
uncompromising antagonist of Jewish theology as taught 
by the Old Testament. Indeed, there is no unity of religi- 
ous teaching among the sacred writers. They differ from 
each other, in this respect, to such an extent that the 
hypothesis of a guiding influence from above is incredible. 
This is the objection. Is it valid ? We think it is not. 
But let us consider a few of the particulars on which it 
is founded. 

Paul is said to have preached a gospel essentially dif- 
ferent from that which was preached by James and the 
other apostles. For Paul affirmed that faith in Christ is 
the only thing necessary to justification and life, while 
James asserted that men are justified by works, and not 
by faith only. But there is no contradiction between the 
doctrine of Paul and the doctrine of James. How any 



214 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

scholar can compare the language of Paul in the thirteenth 
chapter of first Corinthians and in the last two chapters 
of Galatians with the language of the second chapter of 
James, and discover anything more than a superficial dif- 
ference between them, passes our comprehension. It is 
no more than a difference of emphasis, occasioned chiefly 
by the different religious perils to which the readers were 
at the time exposed. Equally incorrect is the assertion 
that Paul antagonized Peter in his treatment of Gentile 
converts, Paul denying and Peter affirming that they must 
be circumcised and keep the law of Moses, in order to be 
saved. For if the only explicit testimony we have on the 
subject, that of Luke in the Acts and that of Paul in the 
Galatians, is worthy of credence, Peter anticipated Paul 
in receiving Gentiles to Christian followship without cir- 
cumcision, while both James and Peter publicly indorsed 
his work among the Gentiles. When will biblical critics 
learn to give Luke and Paul credit for moral sincerity, 
and no longer waste their strength in searching the pages 
of these writers for faint vestiges of some sinister influ- 
ence or secret purpose which weakens their testimony ? 

Again, it is affirmed that Paul opposed the theology of 
the Old Testament. But this statement is also incorrect. 
It is true that he opposed with all his might the Jewish 
opinion, that men who have broken the divine law can be 
justified and saved by their obedience to it. But he as- 
serted, at the same time, that the law was holy, righteous 
and good, that the principle of obedience to it was love, 
and that love is the greatest Christian virtue. Men must 
be saved by grace through faith in Christ, because they 
have disobeyed the holy law of God, and by it are con- 
demned as sinners. Yet the law is not, therefore, useless, 
because it cannot pronounce men righteous. It serves a 



INSPIRATION OF THE SCRIPTURES. 215 

most important end by revealing to them their sinfulness 
and need of divine grace ; it is their schoolmaster unto 
Christ. And however earnestly it may be affirmed that 
Christianity is opposed to biblical Mosaism, it will be for- 
ever impossible to discover more than a superficial dif- 
ference between them, — a difference that pertains to the 
earthly form of religious life, and not to the law and 
grace of God or the method of salvation. It is not too 
much to say that Jesus Christ, the apostle Paul, and the 
Epistle to the Hebrews, agree in teaching this fact, and 
that they understood the relation of the old covenant to 
the new as well as any of their critics. 

But the doctrine of plenary inspiration for the purpose 
of religious teaching and impression is also objected to, 
on the ground that bad theology and bad morality are 
indorsed by the .Old Testament. In reply to this objec- 
tion we remark : (1) That our present view of God and 
morality has back of it the teaching of the whole Bible, 
including the life of Christ. But all that teaching could 
not be given effectively and at once. Men were not pre- 
pared for it. First starlight, then dawn, then day. And 
the processes of God often seem to men very slow. One 
day is with Him as a thousand years, and a thousand 
years as one day. But His work is adapted to the moral 
and religious training of mankind, and when done will be 
found to have been well done. (2) That, if rightly inter- 
preted, the teaching of every part of the Old Testament 
concerning God and morality was right, though incomplete. 
As related to the moral condition of the people, it pointed 
upward, toward a higher ideal of character and life, in- 
stead of downward, toward a lower ideal and deeper sel- 
fishness. Its influence, therefore, always tended to bring 
men to a clearer view of real divine and human excellence. 



216 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

(3) That the Bible records many actions, without com- 
ment, which were certainly bad, and which were shown 
to be evil by the story of their results. This is true of 
polygamy, in the case of Abraham, of Jacob, of David, 
and of Solomon. A verbal condemnation of their conduct 
would have added little to the actual condemnation re- 
vealed by the record of consequences. If any Jew could 
read the family history of these men, as it is sketched by 
the sacred writers, and not see in it a warning against 
polygamy, he must have been dull indeed. And if it were 
necessary to examine one by one the instances in which 
the Old Testament is charged with indorsing bad theology 
or bad morality, we think the charge could be shown to 
rest, in every case, upon a misunderstanding of the record. 
But it is not necessary to do this, and therefore our dis- 
cussion may be closed with the following propositions on 
the nature and extent of inspiration. They represent, in 
brief, our interpretation of biblical testimony and pheno- 
mena in relation to this subject. 

1. The inspiration of the Scriptures is due to the in- 
spiration of those who wrote, compiled, or indorsed them, 
so that they were given a place in the sacred canon. 

2. This inspiration is affirmed in the fullest sense of 
the original Scriptures only ; but it may be predicated in a 
general way of ordinary copies and versions, on the ground 
that they preserve the essential truth of the original text. 

3. This inspiration is predicable of every Scripture, that 
is, of every part of the sacred writings. These writings 
are God's word to men. They not only contain divine 
messages, but they are such messages, and no sentence in 
them is wholly useless. Every paragraph and clause con- 
tributes something to the truth revealed or to the force 
of that truth. 



INSPIRATION OF THE SCRIPTURES. 217 

4 This inbreathing of the Spirit of God so influenced 
the sacred writers that their religious teaching, though 
fragmentary, unsystematic, and specially adapted to the 
moral condition of those from time to time addressed, was 
nevertheless free from error, radically self-consistent and 
progressive, so that the Bible, as a whole, offers to men a 
true theology and a perfect rule of life. 

5. This inspiration of the Spirit, working through 
human powers, may have sometimes employed current 
though inaccurate statements as to matters of science, 
history, or topography, because they were the best avail- 
able means of impressing divine truth on the hearts of 
men. To speak of the sun as rising and setting may 
not be scientific, but it is true to human experience. 
And if the all-controlling purpose of inspiration was to 
save men by pressing upon them religious truth, refer- 
ences to nature, to history, and to localities must have 
been either omitted altogether, or else made in terms 
which carried the minds of those addressed to the main 
facts, without turning them aside into the by-paths of 
doubt or criticism. 

6. The kind of inspiration which we have endeavored 
to describe appears to account for the boldness and" 
power of prophets and apostles, for the variety of style 
and the popular character of the Scriptures, and for 
many things which are supposed by some to be incom- 
patible with absolute truth and authority in matters of 
religion. 



THE NEW TESTAMENT AS A GUIDE TO THE 
INTERPRETATION OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 

IT will be readily granted that every important question 
ought to be answered in the light of all the evidence 
which bears upon it. An effort should therefore be made 
to comprehend the whole case, in order that every feature 
of it may have its proper influence on the judgment. But 
differences of opinion sometimes exist as to the credibility 
of certain events which are supposed to bear upon the 
question, or as to the relation which they have to it. All 
inquirers do not approach the same question with identical 
beliefs or assumptions in respect to allied subjects, and 
so it comes to pass that they reach different conclusions. 
This is inevitable. As their premises differ, their con- 
clusions must differ. 

One who has carefully weighed the evidence in respect 
to the life, the death, and the resurrection of Jesus Christ, 
and has been thoroughly convinced that he was a wholly 
exceptional member of the human family, divine as well 
as human, indeed, the Holy One of God, will necessarily 
be influenced by this conviction in all his further study 
of the New Testament. Having accepted the stupendous 
fact of the resurrection, he will welcome to his confidence 
the equally stupendous fact of the incarnation. Believing 
in the incarnation, he will naturally assent without delay 
to the Lord's claim of sinlessness. And with sinlessness 



NEW TESTAMENT INTERPRETS THE OLD. 219 

he will be ready to associate superlative clearness of 
spiritual vision. Then, too, he will trust the promise of 
Christ which assured his disciples of another Advocate, 
the Spirit of truth, who would show them things to come 
and guide them into all the truth. Moreover, the fact of 
heaven-given foresight in the disciples will surely tend to 
render credible a similar foresight in the ancient prophets. 
And a belief in prophecy as a means of preparation for 
Christ will prepare him to discover in the Old Testament 
typical hints and foreshadowings of the Messiah's reign. 
And if so, he will not be surprised to find that the teach- 
ing of Jesus and of 'his apostles implies that there was a 
divine purpose, working obscurely, but with far-reaching 
and wise intent, in the history, the worship, and the 
sacred literature of the chosen people. Bread was thus 
cast upon the waters, to be found again after many days. 
And, as a result of all this, he will see that the books of 
the Old Testament cannot be classed with books of merely 
human origin, or interpreted without regard to their ful- 
filment in Christ and the meaning which he drew from 
much of their language. 

The present writer believes that the claim of Jesus 
Christ to be " the Son of God " and " the light of the 
world " is supported by evidence (wholly distinct from the 
fulfilment of prophecy) that cannot be shaken, and there- 
fore, on the principle that all pertinent evidence must be 
weighed, he cannot study the Lord's use of the Old Testa- 
ment without assigning to it special importance. For all 
that Christ taught was taught with authority. And in 
this respect his interpretation of the Old Testament stands 
on a level with his teaching as to the nature of God or 
the moral condition of man. If it was inferior to the 
latter, he at least does not seem to have been aware of the 



220 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

inferiority. Even when lie disclaims for himself, and for 
all other beings save the Father, a knowledge of the date 
of his second coming, he does it with a positiveness which 
shows that what he knew was perfectly distinct in his 
own consciousness from what he did not know. But no 
trace of conscious ignorance appears in his use or inter- 
pretation of the Old Testament. 1 

Take then, for an illustration of his method of interpret- 
ing the Old Testament, his reply to the Sadducees, as 
recorded in Mark xii. 26, 27 : " But as touching the 
dead, that they are raised, have ye not read in the book 
of Moses, at the Bush, how God spake unto him, saying, 
/ am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the 
God of Jacob f He is not the God of the dead, but of 
the living." Evidently Christ saw in the language of 
God to Moses a cogent reason for believing that the pa- 
triarchs were alive when it was uttered. To him it was 
incredible that God should identify himself to Moses 
by his relation to servants who had been suffered long 
since to pass out of existence. The honor which he put 
upon his friends by associating their names with his own, 
and by calling himself their God, the One in whom they 
trusted, was utterly inconsistent with the opinion that 
they had perished at death, or that they would remain 

1 Christ's divine nature is believed to have been always omniscient, and 
his human nature to have been assisted by the Holy Spirit, given him 
without measure, so that, at every point of his ministry, his teaching which 
truly represented the knowledge of his divine nature, .as far as it was 
shared by his human nature, was absolutely perfect. He taught as the 
God-man; but by the aid of the incarnate Word and of the Holy Spirit 
the human side of his nature was never ignorant of what his mission 
called him to teach. It did not call him to teach the time of his second 
advent ; but it did call him to speak of David as the author of the 1 1 Oth 
Psalm, and of Moses as the writer of the law, i, e. the Pentateuch, or the 
substance of it (see below). 



NEW TESTAMENT INTERPRETS THE OLD. 221 

forever disembodied and therefore incomplete. It is to 
the credit of the Sadducees that they seem to have per- 
ceived the force of this profound interpretation. Yet it 
would not have been likely to occur to any modern exe- 
gete, especially if he were satisfied with the mere letter 
of the record, without trying to discover the spiritual 
implications of it. Besides, it will be observed that the 
truth which Christ drew from the language was strictly 
an inference, nothing more. But though an inference it 
was positive, authoritative, and worthy of him who spake 
as never man spake. 

With the same penetrating insight Jesus treated the 
Mosaic law in his Sermon on the Mount. While asserting 
the sacredness of that law, he proceeded to give a far 
deeper meaning to several of its precepts than the letter 
of them suggested to other teachers. No one can read 
unmoved his exposition of the truth suggested by the 
ancient law in respect to murder, adultery, divorce, swear- 
ing, retaliation, or love to enemies. Of a piece with this 
was his interpretation of the fourth command, and his 
reduction of the whole moral code of the Pentateuch to 
the duplicate requirement of love to God and love to men. 
Indeed, while it may be said that he sometimes found, 
beneath the surface of the Old Testament language, pro- 
phetic or spiritual truths which cannot be discovered by 
the finest literary acumen, there is no solid reason to 
believe that he ever perverted the divine intent of that 
language. It may be surprising to historical critics that 
he could say to his disciples, "AH things must be ful- 
filled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in 
the prophets, and in the psalms concerning me " (Luke 
xxiv. 44) ; for they deem it possible to explain all that is 
written in the Pentateuch without supposing any refer- 



222 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

ence to Christ; but they surely cannot deny that the 
promise to Abraham and to his seed may have included 
spiritual as well as material good ; they cannot deny that 
the animal sacrifices of the Mosaic economy may have 
been typical of the Lamb of God that taketh away the 
sin of the world ; nor can they deny that the prediction 
of Moses as to a prophet like himself may have referred, 
in its highest sense, to One in whom the whole line of 
prophets would culminate. Is it incredible that rites of 
worship in one period should be adapted to prepare men 
for better things in another period ? No believer in a 
personal God and a special revelation of his will can 
safely affirm this. To destroy the force of Christ's inter- 
pretation of the Old Testament, one of two things must 
be done : it must be clearly shown that he was an imper- 
fect teacher in other respects, or that the passages which 
he has explained cannot mean or imply what he affirms. 
And neither of these things has been done. 

A further question now presents itself : Does the 
teaching of Jesus Christ have any relation to the higher 
criticism of the Old Testament ? To the authorship of 
the Pentateuch or of the Psalms ? Do any of his re- 
corded sayings prove that he believed Moses to have 
written the first five books of the Old Testament, or 
David to have written any of the Psalms ? There is 
evidence that he held David to be the author of the 
110th Psalm. For towards the close of his ministry 
he asked the Pharisees a question, namely, " What think 
ye of the Christ ? Whose son is he ? They say unto 
him, The Son of David. And he saith unto them, How 
then doth David in the Spirit call him Lord, saying, The 
Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, till 
I put thine enemies under thy feet ? If David then calleth 



NEW TESTAMENT INTERPRETS THE OLD. 223 

him Lord, how is he his son ? " (Matt. xxii. 41-45.) 
" This Psalm," says Dr. Toy, " was regarded as Messianic 
by Jewish expositors up to the tenth century ; and this 
is the view of the New Testament, where also (in the 
Gospels and Acts) it is ascribed to David : here ' David ' 
cannot, as is sometimes the case, be understood as a vague 
name for the Book of Psalms, but must mean the indi- 
vidual man so called." Yet the Davidic authorship of 
the Psalm is rejected by many, because, or chiefly be- 
cause, "the direct recognition of a Jerusalem king as 
priest (v. 4) seems to suit only one period of Jewish his- 
tory, the Maccabean, when a Levitical dynasty sat on the 
throne." This appears to be the only important reason 
for thinking that David could not have written the 
Psalm. And it is wholly insufficient. For it assumes 
that if there be any prediction of a Messiah to come in 
the Old Testament it must be typical, and the type must 
have furnished all the features of the picture. The in- 
spired poet may have been familiar with the story of 
Melchisedek, a Jerusalem priest-king, he may have 
deemed a priest-king superior in dignity to either a priest 
or a king, but though assisted by the Spirit of God, he 
could not have conceived these offices to be united in the 
person of the Messiah, unless he saw before his face an 
actual priest reigning as king in Zion ; such limits does 
modern criticism put to the genius of inspired poets ! 
But if any one imagines the record of David's life to be 
so complete that the occasion of every Psalm which he 
wrote can be pointed out, we beg leave to reject the im- 
agination as extravagant and delusive. Think of apply- 
ing such a rule to the hymns of Isaac Watts or of Charles 
Wesley, with nothing but a brief story of their lives, and 
the contents of their hymns, to show how these two 



224 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

were related to each other ! Think of limiting a Shak- 
speare or Milton to characters which he had seen illus- 
trated before his eyes in actual life ! The doctrine of 
evolution may demand the adoption of such a rule, but 
originality of thought and the Spirit of God protest 
against it. Desirable as it may be to know the back- 
ground and occasion of every paragraph in the sacred 
record, we must be content in many cases to lack that 
knowledge. For to obtain it from the slender materials 
at our command would require a more creative imagina- 
tion than David needed to write the 110th Psalm. 

But Jesus is not said by the Evangelists to have spoken 
so definitely about the authorship of any book of the Old 
Testament. In Luke xvi. 29 Abraham is represented by 
Christ as saying to the rich man in Hades: "They "[thy 
brothers] have Moses and the prophets, let them hear 
them," — probably meaning, "they have the words or 
books of Moses and the prophets." And such an expres- 
sion might have been used, if the books treated of Moses 
and the prophets, as the books of Esther and of Job 
treat of those persons. If we supply " words " instead 
of " books," as is suggested by the verb " hear," Abraham 
refers to the teaching of Moses and the prophets. This 
is the better view. 

Again, Jesus is represented in Luke xxiv. 44 as saying 
to his disciples : " These are my words which I spake 
unto you while I was yet with you, how that all things 
must needs be fulfilled which are written in the law of 
Moses and the prophets, and the psalms, concerning me." 
But here the Lord does not affirm in so many words that 
the law was written by Moses. Aaron or some one else 
may have written down the law which was given by God 
through Moses. 



NEW TESTAMENT INTERPRETS THE OLD. 225 

According to John v. 45-47 Jesus said to the Jews : 
" Think not that I will accuse you to the Father : there 
is one that accuseth you, even Moses, on whom ye have 
set your hope. For if ye believed Moses, ye would 
believe me, for he wrote of me. But if ye believe not 
his writings, how shall ye believe my words ? " This 
language shows that Jesus believed Moses to be the 
writer of some part of the Old Testament which had in it 
references to himself. But he does not further define that 
part. It may have been the whole Pentateuch, except a 
few editorial notes, or it may have been only parts of the 
same ; but from what is known of Jewish belief at that 
time we are constrained to think that it was in reality a 
large part of the Pentateuch, including the legal statutes 
and their repetition in Deuteronomy. Of course, then, 
the fair import and full value of Christ's testimony 
should be taken into account by those who attempt to 
ascertain the age of the Pentateuch or of any consider- 
able fraction of it. And any method of inquiry which 
rules out of consideration his words must be defective. 

But shall the apostles be heard also ? Is their view 
of the Old Testament entitled to any particular respect ? 
It will not be forgotten that Jesus promised the Eleven 
the Spirit of truth, to guide them, after his own depar- 
ture, into all the truth, or that from the first Pentecost 
onward they preached " the good news " with astonishing 
confidence and success. Nor will it be doubted that the 
same Spirit was given for the same purpose to Paul, 
when he was added to the group of earlier apostles and 
commissioned to do a service of the same kind as theirs. 
So then we ask, Did the apostles' use of the Old Testa- 
ment resemble their Lord's ? And their interpretation of 

it reveal a similar insight ? These questions cannot be 

15 



226 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

fully answered without a patient examination of all the 
passages in which they make use of the Old Testament ; 
but some light may be obtained from a few passages in 
which they have been said to misinterpret the ancient 
Scriptures. 

The language of Paul in Gal. iii. 16, is one of these. 
Here the apostle, misled, as is supposed, by the use of 
words in the Aramaic of his own day, gives a wrong ex- 
planation of a certain Old Testament expression : " Now 
to Abraham were the promises spoken, and to his seed. 
He saith not, And to seeds, as of many ; but as of one, 
And to thy seed, which is Christ." Now if the apostle 
saw, in the exclusive use of the singular form of the word 
" seed " in the promises, evidence that they pointed to 
some kind of unity which had its centre and source in 
Christ, he certainly perceived, as did his Lord when 
replying to the Sadducees, something more in a particular 
form of expression than simple scholarship would have 
been likely to discover, but which it cannot fairly deny 
when pointed out. For while it is true that the word 
" seeds " is not applied in the Old Testament to the pos- 
terity of any man, but the singular is used as a collective 
noun, yet the plural is said by Dr. Toy to have been used 
of human progeny in the Aramaic and later Hebrew, 
and we may therefore infer that there is nothing in the 
nature of the case to prevent such a use. Moreover we 
find the plural of the same word in the Old Testament 
applied to different kinds of grain (1 Sam. viii. 15). And 
a man might now enter a country store, and say to the 
proprietor : " What grains have you on hand ? " with the 
answer : " Wheat, rye, oats, corn, barley," etc. Or he 
might ask : " What teas have you ? " and be answered : 
" Black, green, English-breakfast," etc. Or again : " What 



NEW TESTAMENT INTERPRETS THE OLD 227 

coffees have you ? " and be informed : " Mocha, Java," etc. 
Yet a diligent critic might certainly search through a 
hundred volumes and find the words grain, tea, and 
coffee a thousand times in the singular, and probably not 
once in the plural. Tn fact the word "seeds" (D\jn?) oc- 
curs but once in the Old Testament, and means in that 
place different kinds of grain. Suppose that single in- 
stance were wanting, how easy would it be to say that 
the word had no plural among the Jews when it was 
applied to grains. But how insecure the foundation for 
such a statement ! Yet no more insecure than is the 
argument from the non-appearance of the plural with 
reference to human posterity, against its use by the 
people in that way, or against the reasoning of Paul 
which assumes that it might properly be thus used, if 
the thought to be expressed required the plural form. 

Dr. Hackett's explanation of the passage is therefore 
entirely satisfactory : " It is, therefore, as if Paul had 
said : ' Search the Scriptures from Genesis to Alalachi : 
the promises all run in one strain ; they make no men- 
tion of a plurality of seeds, such as a natural and spiritual 
seed, at the same time ; they speak of a single seed only, 
the believing race (see Rom. iv. 12), whether Jews or 
Gentiles ; and as this restriction of the lan^ua^e to one 
seed limits and exhausts the promises as to any share in 
the blessings of Abraham's justification, there are no 
promises of this nature for other seeds, such as Abra- 
ham's natural descendants merely as such, or Jews by 
adoption, in virtue of their submission to Jewish rites.' " 

Very deep and beautiful is the thought which Paul 
here expresses. All believers are virtually one person, 
and that person is Christ (see verse 28 below). He is 
the life of their life. Their faith comes through him and 



228 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

unites them with him. When the nations are blessed, it 
will be because they bless themselves in him. And 
when the Saviour said, " I am the vine ; ye are the 
branches," he enunciated the same truth. 

To the present writer all the passages in Paul's Epis- 
tles to the Eomans and Galatians which refer to Gen. 
xv. 6 and Hab. ii. 3, 4, in support of the doctrine of 
justification by faith, seem to be very helpful in bringing 
to light the religious purport of Old Testament language, 
and in showing the essential sameness of the way of life 
since the world began, or, more exactly, since sin entered 
into the world. For it is perfectly evident that Paul 
looked upon faith, not as a human work for which a man 
could claim reward, but as a renunciation of self-right- 
eousness and a trustful reliance upon the mercy of God. 
Yet no writer of the New Testament asserts more strong- 
ly than he that true faith works by love and moves to 
right conduct. Nay, he evidently expects it to bear more 
abundant fruits of righteousness than could possibly flow 
from a heart that relies upon its own works for accept- 
ance with God. Paul is as truly the apostle of love as of 
faith ; but neither of these graces feeds upon itself ; both 
find their object and life in God. 

But there are citations from the Old Testament by 
Paul which are less strictly doctrinal than those which 
have been noticed above. A specimen of these has been 
selected for criticism by a writer in this series of articles. 
It is 1 Cor. xiv. 21, and Paul's use of the Old Testament 
is pronounced " much stranger " in this case than his use 
of it in Eom. xiv. 10-20, which is considered very incor- 
rect. The quotation reads thus : " In the law it is writ- 
ten, By men of strange tongues and by the lips of 
strangers, will I speak unto this people " (Isaiah xxviii. 



NEW TESTAMENT INTERPRETS THE OLD. 



99 < 



11, 12). Of this quotation Professor Gould justly says: 
" Of course, the prophecy contains only an analogy to the 
case to which the apostle applies it. In both, the strange 
speech is brought into contrast with plain and instruc- 
tive utterance, and in both the reason for it is substan- 
tially the same, viz., the unbelief of those to whom it is 
addressed. . . . The mere proof of God's being and truth 
was subserved alike by the Old Testament incursions of 
barbarians, taking the place of God's prophets with their 
instructive speech, and by the gift of the New Testament 
tongues, contrasted with the same prophetic speech." 
The value of Paul's use of the passage from Isaiah to the 
interpreter is this, that it calls his attention to the prin- 
ciple of God's procedure as being the same under both 
economies, a principle of the greatest importance in 
studying the Scriptures. 

A few general remarks will serve to present the writ- 
er's view more definitely. 1. The New Testament is 
not the primary source of knowledge concerning the 
meaning of the Old. The text of the Old Testament 
itself is that source, and it should be studied with the 
same fidelity as that of the New. Indeed, as to the prox- 
imate aim of any passage, nothing can take the place of 
the language of the passage itself, illuminated by the 
context, and by whatever can be ascertained respecting 
the persons addressed and their circumstances at the 
time. First the text, and then commentaries ; not com- 
mentaries first, and then the text. 

2. The New Testament affords but little assistance to 
one engaged in the textual criticism of the Old Testa- 
ment. For the writers, whether apostles or their associ- 
ates, evidently quoted, for the most part, from memory. 
The purposes for which they used the ancient Scriptures 



230 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

did not generally require them to go back of the current 
versions. Indeed, those purposes justified them in adopt- 
ing words and clauses, apt expressions, and sentences 
brought together from different parts of the record, with- 
out special regard to the original connection. But so 
meagre are the sources of textual criticism for the Old 
Testament that, whenever the New Testament writers 
appear to give a fresh version of the original, their ver- 
sion is entitled to deep consideration. 

3. The New Testament affords but little aid to the 
so-called higher criticism of the Old. It shows in a 
general way the limits and divisions of the Old Testa- 
ment canon. It proves that Jesus and his apostles con- 
sidered the law, the prophecy, and the history, as these 
now appear in the Old Testament, to be sacred and trust- 
worthy. But the modern questions of the higher criticism 
were not before them, and naturally, therefore, were not 
answered by them. Yet what they say incidentally may 
be of great service to one who is seeking to ascertain the 
date and authorship of certain parts of the Old Testament. 
For example, they offer an insuperable objection to any 
view of the origin of the Pentateuch which invalidates 
its credibility as a record of what God communicated to 
the people through Moses; and they require us to believe 
that an important part of the law was written by Moses 
(see above). 

4. The New Testament is exceedingly helpful to one in 
discovering the religious principles which underly many 
passages of the Old Testament. This has been illustrated 
by our study of Christ's reply to the question of the Sad- 
ducees concerning the resurrection. It may also be illus- 
trated by the Lord's use and explanation of the Sabbath- 
day. For, in the light of what he taught by word and 



NEW TESTAMENT INTERPRETS THE OLD. 231 

act, one may be morally certain, for instance, that the 
man who was stoned for gathering sticks on the Sabbath 
(Num. xv. 32-36) must have done this in a spirit of defi- 
ance to the law of God, and without the excuse of real 
need. Again, an interpreter of the 16th chapter of Le- 
viticus might be in doubt as to the range of offences for 
which atonement was made by the sin-offering. Was 
that offering a condition of the forgiveness of all unex- 
piated sins, or only of civil and ritual offences which 
disturbed one's standing in the visible theocracy ? With 
this doubt in mind the interpreter must welcome the 
light afforded by Hebrews ix. 13, 14, and other passages 
in the same epistle. In fact, a considerable part of the 
Epistle to the Hebrews will be found of essential service 
in a candid study of the Mosaic ritual. 

5. The New Testament is of great assistance in tracing 
the line of Messianic prediction in the Old. It may not 
go very far in enabling one to decide upon the character 
of a prediction, whether it is direct or typical, but it 
deserves the highest consideration when the fact of Mes- 
sianic reference is in question. Whatever authority be- 
longs to the teaching of Christ and his apostles may be 
alleged, for example, in support of a Messianic interpreta- 
tion of the 110th Psalm, and consequently in support of 
the existence of prophecy in the times before Christ. 

Without further specification it seems to the writer of 
this article clear that the New Testament is an important 
source of instruction to interpreters of the earlier Scrip- 
tures, and that the considerations already presented fur- 
nish satisfactory evidence of this. 1 

1 From " The Old and New Testament Student." 



THE GOLDEN EULE. 

Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to 
you, do ye even so to them ; for this is the law and the prophets. — 
Matt. vii. 12. 

JESUS CHRIST came into the world to save the lost. 
His ruling purpose was to reveal the grace of God. 
Yet the pertinency • and power of his teachings seem no 
less remarkable when that teaching relates to the moral 
law than when it relates to the way of recovery from sin 
and death. Moreover, when it relates to the moral law, 
his statement of radical principles is fully as striking as 
his illustration of particular duties. Think in this con- 
nection of his summing up the two tables of the Deca- 
logue, in the allied commands, to love God with all the 
heart, and to love one's neighbor as one's self. Observe, 
likewise, that the second of these commands discloses 
the only sufficient motive for obeying " the golden rule." 
For as it is love of self which makes us wish for good rather 
than evil from the hands of men, an equal love of men 
will make us wish for good rather than evil to them. 
And as "the wish is father to the deed," we shall en- 
deavor to impart good to them with an energy propor- 
tioned to the wish. This thought seems to have been in 
the mind of James when he wrote : " If a brother or 
sister be naked and .destitute of daily food, and one of 



THE GOLDEN RULE. 233 

you say, Depart in peace, be warmed and filled ; notwith- 
standing ye give them not those things which are need- 
ful to the body ; what is the profit ? " James regarded 
the love expressed by mere pious phrases as useless, be- 
cause inert, a dead love, twin-sister of the faith which he 
pronounced dead, because it was without works. 

If any man believes that he can obey the second great 
command of the law, while he ignores " the golden rule," 
the judgment-day will prove that he is believing a lie. 
Or if any man believes that he is obeying " the golden 
rule " from a mere sense of duty, animated by no love to 
men, the judgment-day will prove that he, too, is believ- 
ing a lie. For it is impossible to love one's neighbor as 
one's self, without manifesting that love in actions meant 
to be beneficent, and it is equally impossible to do to 
others as we would have them do to us, without loving 
them as we do ourselves. There is a vital connection 
between the fountain and the stream, between the heart 
and the life. 

This truth was set in a beautiful proverb by Solomon : 
" Out of the heart are the issues of life." It was reiter- 
ated long after by James in the striking figure : " Doth a 
fountain send forth at the same place sweet and bitter ? " 
And it was affirmed by the Lord himself as to the 
wicked : " From within, out of the heart of man, proceed 
evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, 
covetousness, "wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil 
eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness, — all these come from 
within." And no less plainly as to the righteous : " If a 
man love me, he will keep my word ; " " he that hath my 
commandments and keepeth them, he it is that loveth 
me." In other words, the moral quality of conduct de- 
pends on the state of the heart. "A good tree cannot 



234 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring 
forth good fruit." 

Having looked at the connection between loving men 
and doing them good, let us direct our thoughts more 
closely to the latter, a rule for which is given in my text : 
" All things whatsoever ye would that men should do to 
you, do ye even so to them." 

And consider (1) the universality of the rule here pro- 
posed. It refers to all parts of our conduct which affect 
the welfare of other men ; that is, probably, to nine- 
tenths of all we do. Thus, it refers to our choice of a 
life-work. If a man says, I will give myself to this em- 
ployment or to that, as long as I live, he is deciding 
thereby to do more or less good, more or less evil, to his 
fellow-men. And if he aims to do to them as he would 
have them do to him, he will select an employment by 
which he can benefit them. Nay, he will select the one 
employment by which he believes that he can confer the 
greatest benefit on them. He will not feel that it is a 
matter of indifference whether he becomes a farmer, a 
mechanic, or an architect, a trader, a banker, or a manu- 
facturer, a lawyer, a physician, or a statesman, a teacher, 
a pastor, or a missionary, or whether he becomes an actor, 
a pugilist, or a gambler, a distiller, a rumseller, or a bur- 
glar. Estimating as fairly as possible his abilities and 
opportunities, he will turn away with disdain from every 
employment, however popular or remunerative, which in 
its results will be either useless or injurious to other men. 
He will be satisfied with nothing less than the worthiest 
life-work within his reach. The question will not be, 
How can I get the most money " by hook or by crook " ? or, 
How can I secure the greatest applause from the lips of 
good men or bad ? but, How can I do most to fit myself 



THE GOLDEN RULE. 235 

and others for the life that now is and for the life that 
will never end ? What is really the best work I can do 
for mankind, including myself ? so that when the holy 
Judge appears he may say, " Well done, good and faith- 
ful servant ; enter thou into the joy of thy Lord." For 
the joy of the Lord is the joy of One who " came not to 
be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life 
a ransom for many." 

The rule that we should do unto others as we would 
have them do to us, refers also to the manner in which 
we perform our life-work. For a man may carry on a 
useful business in a mercenary way. He may be unfair, 
exacting the lion's share of profit in trade. He may take 
selfish advantage of the ignorance or misfortune of a 
fellow-man. Or, if rigidly just, his bearing may be cold, 
harsh, or supercilious, wounding and embittering the 
spirit of his neighbor. It is comparatively easy to be- 
think ourselves of " the golden rule " in choosing between 
a useful and a harmful employment ; for this is evidently 
a great matter, and the dullest conscience can scarcely 
look upon it with indifference : but it is far from easy to 
apply this rule to all the business and intercourse of 
daily life, — to all the details of trade, of social position, 
of burden-bearing, of charity, — to the acts we perform, 
the words we speak, the wrongs we suffer. It is difficult 
to maintain, without interruption, a ruling purpose to be 
perfectly equitable in the minor transactions of life ; but 
it is still more difficult to do this in such a spirit as will 
best represent the purpose, causing men to feel without our 
saying it that we are heartily subject to the rule of Christ. 

Suppose an employer were to attempt, with downright 
earnestness, in the very spirit of Christ, to deal with 
every person employed by him as he would wish to be 



236 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

dealt with by that person if their relations were reversed, 
if he himself were the one employed instead of being the 
employer. The only possible way of doing this would 
consist in trying to render a full equivalent for service 
received, so that the relation between the two would be 
equally profitable to both, — the employer doing as much 
for the good of every person employed as that person 
does for the good of the employer. It would not in all 
cases be an easy matter to determine the value of labor as 
compared with capital, or the value of one form of labor, 
as that of inventing, planning, supervising, as compared 
with another, for example, that of simple manual service ; 
but it would be possible to get indefinitely near the truth, 
and a sincere effort to do this is what the will of Christ 
demands. " Put yourself in his place," is the exhorta- 
tion which the Saviour addresses to every employer when 
he is studying his duty to his employees. But not to 
him alone. The wage-laborer is also addressed in the 
same way. He, too, is subject to " the golden rule," and 
should feel himself bound by it to render a full equiva- 
lent for what he receives. This he cannot do while he is 
merely an eye-servant. This he cannot do without tak- 
ing into account the interests of his employer as well as 
his own. This he cannot do by claiming that the world 
owes him a living, whether he has earned it or not. 
" He that will not work, neither shall he eat," is the 
Christian law, as interpreted by an apostle, — it being 
understood that the "will not" is in no sense a "can- 
not." It is the laborer, not the idler, who is pronounced 
"worthy of his hire." The man who will not work 
should be left to go hungry ; only the man who cannot 
work is entitled to help. 

But business is not the whole of life or of conduct. It 



THE GOLDEN RULE. 237 

is indeed so large a part of these that we must give it a 
certain prominence, but it is far from being all. And 
the rule, "All things whatsoever ye would that men 
should do to you, do ye even so to them," embraces every 
part of our conduct which affects the welfare of others. 
It means our deeds of every kind, but our words also ; 
for the Lord himself has said : " By thy words shalt 
thou be justified, and by thy words shalt thou be con- 
demned." And James declares that " if any man stum- 
bleth not in word, the same is a perfect man, able to 
bridle the whole body also," though he feels constrained 
to add, " the tongue can no man tame ; it is a restless 
evil, it is full of deadly poison." The rule of Jesus 
reaches farther yet, and includes our very looks, the 
whole expression of our countenances ; for smiles and 
frowns signify as much as speech. It includes our 
silence also, whenever that silence, as is often the case, is 
equivalent to language, and is a sign of approval or dis- 
sent. A man's eyes, gestures, movements, postures, and 
even garments, have their meaning, and sometimes that 
meaning has a very subtle and powerful influence, either 
affirming or denying what he says. It is possible to 
tempt or mortify a friend by the dress you wear, to pro- 
voke wrath by a motion of the finger, to quench hope by 
a glance of the eye. It is possible to win by a smile, to 
comfort by a tone, to soothe by a gesture. Who has not 
seen a cold look, an angry look, a friendly look ? Soul 
reports itself to soul by a hundred signals. All action is 
speech, and all speech is action. Analysis here ends in 
synthesis, variety in unity. Every voluntary movement, 
however slight, is a self-revealing whisper of the spirit, a 
coming out of personal thought and feeling from the 
hidden centre of being. What part of our conduct, then, 



238 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

is without the range of " the golden rule " ? Only our 
communion with ourselves and with God. But even this 
puts its impress on our character and life as revealed to 
other men. 

The universality of " the golden rule " is seen likewise 
in the circumstance that it prescribes what our conduct 
ought to be towards every human being. It is not, 
" Whatsoever ye would that your kinsfolk should do to 
you, do ye even so to them;" but "Whatsoever ye would 
that men should do to you, do ye even so to them." No 
member of the great human family is excepted. No caste- 
system is recognized. No person is put aside because of 
ignorance or stupidity or criminality or color. All are 
brothers. Suppose that two of them are strangers to each 
other, — that they speak different languages, that they 
live on opposite sides of the globe, that they have dis- 
cordant creeds, hopes, fears, customs, and that they are 
enemies, — yet they are brothers, made of one blood, 
endowed with similar powers, and subject to the same 
holy law. If they meet each other, the rule proposed 
by Christ should regulate their intercourse. Each should 
aim to treat the other as he would like to have the other 
treat himself. A plain, simple rule, — suited to a peasant, 
suited equally to a king. 

Consider (2) the reasonableness of this rule. We may 
always safely assume that the teaching of Christ is rea- 
sonable. For no one ever appeared in human form who 
was so perfectly acquainted with our nature. " He needed 
not that any should testify of man ; for he knew what 
was in man." His claim to be " the Son of Man " was 
frequent and distinct ; and it must signify that he pos- 
sessed a truly human nature, derived from ours. Prob- 
ably it signifies yet more, — that he was the one true and 



THE GOLDEN RULE. 239 

adequate realization of manhood. ; not of Jewish manhood, 
nor of Greek or Eoman manhood, but of manhood generic 
and normal, unmodified by the special traditions, preju- 
dices, and temperaments which mark every separate people. 

Observe, too, that he had the experience of human life 
in its commonest form. He was familiar with toil. Fif- 
teen years, more or less, of labor at a carpenter's bench, 
must have shown him the average lot of man, who is 
doomed, from the Garden, to " eat his bread in the sweat 
of his face." He must also have known something of 
business or trade, as it was then conducted by a money- 
loving people. How severely his virtue was tested in 
that obscure period of his life, we cannot tell ; but a 
sacred writer has assured us that he " was tempted in all 
respects as we are, apart from sin," and we may well be- 
lieve that some of this tempting was met and overcome 
in Nazareth. For I think it extremely probable that he 
came in contact there with local magistrates and publi- 
cans, with merchants and shopkeepers, with proprietors 
and stewards, with master-builders and wage-laborers, 
with shepherds who owned their flocks, and with hire- 
lings who simply tended them, so that by the ordinary 
methods of gaining knowledge he might have learned a 
great deal about human nature as affected by the various 
pursuits of life. 

But we have no thought of limiting the knowledge of 
Christ to that which he drew from earthly sources. He 
was divine as well as human. As the Mediator between 
God and men, he was at home with both ; he shared the 
nature of both, and he was accustomed to speak with the 
same certainty and authority of both. He saw men as 
God sees them. He knew their moral state, and their 
need of help, what they were and what they must become 



240 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

in order to have eternal life. With marvellous perspi- 
cacity he explored the hidden recesses of their spiritual 
being, and adapted his word to their need. And time 
has proved that what was needed by men of that age is 
needed by men of every age ; that the life which Jesus 
must live in order to please God is the life which, in prin- 
ciple, all must live to please him. Jesus was not the one to 
bind on the shoulders of his disciples burdens too heavy 
for them to bear. He was not the one to prescribe a rule 
of conduct more stringent than the good of men required. 

In reality we perceive, upon reflection, that the precept 
of Christ is a direct conclusion from the unity of man- 
kind. It presupposes the one great fact that human 
nature is essentially the same in every man, that all men 
are peers in the sight of God, that the soul of a beggar is 
as precious and immortal as the soul of a prince. Admit 
this, and true reason, which is universal, enabling man to 
see within certain limits as God sees, pronounces "the 
golden rule " inevitable, and obedience to it the inmost 
core and life of all genuine morality. Wonderful is it, 
that, as the astronomer can transfer his point of view 
from this earth to the centre of the sun, so the reason of 
man can take its seat outside the atmosphere and influ- 
ence of self, hard by the throne of God, and there weigh 
in a balance its own soul with the souls of others, decid- 
ing that their value is equal, and that the rule of action 
announced by Christ is founded on immutable truth and 
right. Yet such, beyond question, is the fact. 

But is it possible to act on " the golden rule " and 
succeed in business ? Is not self-interest the mainspring 
of enterprise, and competition necessary to thrift, even 
though the weak are pushed to the wall by the strong, 
and the simple outwitted by the shrewd ? Is not the 



THE GOLDEN RULE. 241 

world so made that rivalry is normal, and productive of 
more good than evil, while philanthropy is sentimental, 
and out of place in business affairs ? Do not those who 
choose to act on the selfish principle so far outnumber 
those who wish to act on the benevolent principle, that 
the latter, in sheer self-defence, must adopt the methods 
of the former ? This, no doubt, is the opinion of many 
true Christians. They believe it impossible to succeed, 
without using the means employed by their competitors, 
though some of those means are of doubtful equity. But 
to men who hold this opinion we may say, Is it then 
absolutely necessary to succeed in amassing wealth ? Is 
not the life more than meat, and the body more than 
raiment ? Have not multitudes lived nobly and died in 
peace, without being rich ? Do you think of Solomon's 
career as more enviable or successful than Paul's ? Is a 
full purse of greater value than a Christlike spirit ? Are 
houses and lands more to be desired than a clear con- 
science and a loving heart ? The wisest of men has testi- 
fied that, " A good name is rather to be chosen than great 
riches, and loving favor than silver and gold." And- 
the greatest English dramatist puts these words in the 
mouth of an honorable man : — 

" Who steals my purse steals trash. 
'T is something, nothing ; 't was mine, 't is his, 
And has been slave to thousands. But he 
Who filches from me my good name, 
Robs me of that which not enriches him, 
And makes me poor indeed." 

If reputation is so precious, what shall we say of char- 
acter ? If the " loving favor " of men is better than silver 
and gold, what shall we think of the " loving favor " 
of Christ ? 

16 



242 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

But is it certain that a beneficent regard to others is 
incompatible with business success ? Is it demonstrable 
that Christ has given us a rule of action which tends to 
poverty ? Let no man affirm this on the ground of -any 
trial of obedience yet made. I rather believe that the 
liberal soul will have its full portion of earthly good. 
Was Abraham impoverished by acting according to Christ's 
rule when he divided the land with Lot, giving Lot his 
choice as to the part which he would take for his use and 
home ? The sacred narrative forbids us to think so. It 
shows that though Abraham was but a sojourner in the 
land which God had promised to give him, he was pros- 
perous and powerful to the end of life ; while Lot, who 
had apparently a single eye to increase of wealth in 
making his choice, and therefore pitched his tent toward 
Sodom, Jived in bitter vexation of soul, and left behind 
him a debased posterity. Surely the lesson is obvious. 
Treating others as you would have them deal with you, 
is consistent with success in business. 

More evident still is its harmony with success in every 
other employment. An old proverb affirms that, "If a 
man would have friends, he must show himself friendly." 
Good-will to men, manifested unostentatiously in word 
and deed, is a perennial spring of social influence. One 
whose entire bearing shows that he is solicitous for the 
welfare of others will soon be loved and honored. A 
teacher who enters, as it were, into the life of his pupils, 
who ascertains their character, capacities, tastes, and who 
labors with patient love and zeal for their -improvement, 
is always sure of being useful in his calling. A physician 
who deals in the same way with his patients is far more 
likely to prosper in his work than one whose aims are 
purely selfish. A minister who is intent upon doing all 



THE GOLDEN RULE. 243 

possible good to the souls of men, and to this end studies 
their religious doubts, fears, hopes, aspirations, will cer- 
tainly find an open door into the sanctuary of their hearts, 
and will be heard by them as a true messenger from the 
court of heaven. 

Thus looking at the nature of man, which is essentially 
the same in all, and at the influence of beneficent conduct 
on our success in the proper work of life, we perceive 
that " the golden rule " is an expression of the highest 
reason. It prescribes what ought to be done. To obey 
it is right, to disobey it is sinful. To obey it is to go 
in the way of life, to disobey it is to seek death. He, 
therefore, who knows what we are, in the deepest laws of 
our being, once said, " It is more blessed to give than to 
receive." Much as we are inclined to seek good for our- 
selves, and to rejoice in additions to what we call our 
own, there is a higher, nobler, more godlike satisfaction 
in imparting good to others. Of this the best men have 
no doubt. To this the deepest thinkers have given their 
unqualified assent. And there are millions of thoughtful, 
practical men who eulogize " the golden rule " as a per- 
fect law of action, while they confess with " bated breath " 
that they do not obey it, and seem to feel that it is too 
good for this rough world, that the strife for personal 
advantage is so fierce and unscrupulous that every one 
must do his best for self, unmindful of others, — must 
urge on his flying steeds, regardless of those who may be 
overthrown and crushed by his chariot. 

But although we are in a dust-clouded arena, and mul- 
titudes are running the race of life with us, this apology 
for disobeying " the golden rule " is vain. The real diffi- 
culty is within, not without, — in the selfishness of our 
own hearts, not in the conduct of other men. We do not 



244 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

love our neighbor as ourself. This is the supreme reason 
why we cannot reduce to practice the rule, " All things 
whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, dp ye 
even so to them." This, too, has always been the reason 
why men have come short of their duty to one another. 
And therefore how great soever be the emphasis which 
Christ lays upon beneficent conduct, he insists yet more 
urgently upon love to God and men. His teaching is 
always, " Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his right- 
eousness. . . . Do not despise earthly good, but assign it 
a subordinate place, feeling no deep concern lest your 
Heavenly Father should overlook your temporal wants. 
Ye are of more value than many sparrows." 

So then, morality is the handmaid of religion. It can- 
not do its perfect work without the support of faith in 
God. It will be weak, unless it is sustained by heavenly 
grace. It will be cold, unless it is vitalized by the Spirit 
of Christ. Let no man dream that he can do what he 
ought to do for the good of his fellow-men without loving 
them as he does himself, or that he can love them as he 
does himself without loving God with all the heart. 
Christian virtues grow in clusters like grapes. Accord- 
ing to Paul, " the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, 
long suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, temper- 
ance," and Peter speaks of the new life as developed into 
" faith, virtue, knowledge, temperance, patience, godliness, 
brotherly love, and love." But especially intimate is the 
connection between love to God and love to men. ■ 

If, then, you desire to obey " the golden rule," enthrone 
Christ in your souls. Fix your thoughts on him as he 
descends from the highest heaven and the glory of a 
divine state, to lay down his life, in agony and blood, for 
your redemption. The closer your fellowship with him, 



THE GOLDEN RULE. 245 

the more likely will you be to approach the standard of 
duty prescribed by his wisdom. And if you would fain 
induce others to obey the same rule, there is no way in 
which you will be so likely to accomplish your desire as 
by directing them to the Lamb of God, and insisting that 
their first step in moral renovation must be submission 
to him. As well might you expect the earth to be 
moved by the impulse of gravitation towards all her 
sister planets, without being moved by the same impulse 
towards the sun, as expect a man to be moved by love to 
his fellow-men without being moved bv love to God. 

I deem it right, therefore, to congratulate you upon the 
relation of your now opening ministry to the solution of 
great problems which agitate society at the present time. 
Your service will be in the gospel ; but apart from the 
gospel, there is no prospect of peace ; as soon as one feud 
is composed, another will break out. Our only hope of a 
better understanding in years to come springs from the 
possibility of diminishing selfishness in human hearts by 
implanting the divine principle of love. Law, police, com- 
bination, arbitration, compromise, may be of some use, 
but they cannot purify the fountain of evil. The only 
effectual remedy is one that can " create a clean heart 
and a right spirit." And you are permitted to be co- 
workers with God in applying this remedy. A service 
more beneficent in its aims or sufficient in its motives is 
scarcely conceivable. Let the greatness and glory of it 
inspire you with lofty sentiments, while the difficulty of 
it compels you to cry mightily to God for grace, that you 
may approve yourselves to him as workmen who need 
not be ashamed. 1 

1 Baccalaureate Sermon, preached June 6, 1886. 



THE STATE AND EELIGIOK 

"\ T 7TIAT is the true theory of the State ? Are there 
* * any limits to its proper authority, — any depart- 
ments of human activity which it should not enter and 
control with its corporate power ? Or is it entitled to 
act, as a body politic, in favor of everything which is 
judged by the State — that is, by the rulers or the major 
part of the people — to be for the common good ? In 
particular, has it a right to regulate the morals of the 
people ? And if it has this right, on what is the right 
founded ? On the principle that the State as such is 
authorized to sustain and promote by its corporate action 
everything good ; or on the principle that it must protect 
the natural rights of the people, and therefore oppose im- 
morality in so far, and in so far only, as it leads to crime 
or the violation of the rights of others ? Again, has the 
State any right to regulate the religion of the people ? 
If it may not attempt to control their religion, considered 
as service due to God, may it step in and do the same 
thing, under the plea that religion is the handmaid of 
good morals ? And if it may do this without blame, may 
it select a particular form of religion for its support, on 
the ground of its being more conducive than any other to 
good morals ? These questions have not yet been an- 
swered to the satisfaction of all ; and therefore we believe 
it wise to go down into the arena of conflict once more, 



THE STATE AND RELIGION. 247 

and attempt to win the victory for what seems to us the 
side of truth and right. 

What then, in general, are the legitimate ends of 
human government ? Three answers have been given to 
this question, supported by three views of government, 
which may be called for convenience, the Eoman, the 
paternal, and the protective. The first regards the people 
as means, the second as minors, and the third as men. 
According to the Eoman view the State may be called its 
own end. The people are looked upon as springing from 
the State, belonging to the State, and invested with all 
their rights by the State. Though in a certain sense ideal, 
the State is represented by the rulers of the people ; and 
therefore, this fraction of the intelligence and conscience 
of the nation has for the time being, at least, all the 
rights pertaining to the whole body. Such a theory, we 
are confident, needs no refutation. It makes the State 
an end instead of a means, and belittles the dignity of 
man. As the Sabbath was made for man, so was the 
State, so was the family ; and the day has gone by for- 
ever when it was possible for the good sense of mankind 
to be carried away by the Eoman theory of government. 

The paternal theory has more in its favor ; for accord- 
ing to this view the government stands as it were in loco 
parentis, regarding the people as children and minors, to 
be controlled, educated, protected, and, if need be, sup- 
ported. Almost anything which " the powers that be " 
deem useful to the masses, they may do. God has re- 
served nothing to himself and to his own children. He 
has authorized and invited the State as such to wield its 
rough and terrible forces in support of everything which 
is deemed beneficial to man. This view appears to many 
persons exceedingly beautiful and reasonable. They carry 



248 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

over to the State the idea which they have of a family, 
composed for the most part of children who look up for 
counsel and control to a benignant father, and forget that 
a nation is composed of men, and not of children ; 
forget that God has provided for the care of children by 
the constitution of families, and left for the State another 
and different service. But it is not surprising that the 
view in question is generally acceptable to royal families 
and to the nobility. The late Emperor of the French had 
a strong leaning to it, and the Czar of Eussia may safely 
be counted in its favor. For it supposes rulers to be dis- 
tinguished for wisdom and goodness, to be men of large 
intelligence and lofty virtue, quite undisturbed by local 
influences or the hot currents of partisan zeal. But tested 
by the actual character of rulers in any age of the world, 
tested by what governments acting on this theory have 
done for the good of the people, tested by the position 
which it gives to the governed, and by the right which it 
claims to intermeddle with everything private and sacred, 
on the plea of caring for the minors under its charge, — 
it does not commend itself to a thoughtful mind. It 
provides for too much official control, and expects too 
little self-control. It ranks the civil conscience too high, 
and the private conscience too low. It forgets that if the 
wisdom and morality of the State may be better than 
those of its worst citizens, they are inferior to those of 
its best citizens. It overrates the wisdom of rulers, and 
underrates the judgment of ordinary men. Say all we 
may in its defence, it sacrifices manhood to order. "While 
Napoleon III. was Emperor, there was little danger of 
theft or burglary in Paris ; but no man was sure that his 
best friend was not a paid and sworn member of the 
secret police, ready to report every honest word of criti- 



THE STATE AND RELIGION. 249 

cism to the paternal ear. While rulers are no more than 
men, such a theory of the State must be pronounced un- 
satisfactory ; and almost equally so, whether the rulers 
are hereditary, or whether they are chosen by a majority 
of the people. 

But according to the third view, the chief end of the 
State is to guard the natural rights of the people, to 
render life, liberty, and property secure in every part of 
its domain. It looks upon the people as men, and ac- 
cords to them rights and duties which cannot be trans- 
ferred to their rulers. It assumes that a true and full 
manhood can only be developed by self-control, self- 
culture, and the solemn discipline of grave personal re- 
sponsibility ; and therefore it leaves many important 
interests — indeed, all but those named already — to the 
care and enterprise of good men, acting freely as con- 
science or benevolence may dictate. Above all, it shrinks 
from invading the right of the individual soul to deter- 
mine and fulfil, without the bias of state solicitation or 
constraint, its own duty to God. It admits that the sphere 
of religion transcends its control, and therefore restricts 
itself to the humble task of protecting men in the exer- 
cise of their natural rights. And this theory we hold to 
be correct. 

In considering the proper relation of the State to reli- 
gion, it will be important to bear in mind the fact that 
the State is a permanent organization, necessary to the 
welfare of mankind. It must not, therefore, be capri- 
ciously constituted, but formed on principles that will 
allow it to be maintained from a^e to a^e. Belief from 
present fears must not be sought by an organization which 
embodies a principle of injustice to the next generation. 
Mr. Elliot, in his "Sketch of the History of Harvard 



250 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

College," would have us look upon the settlers of Plym- 
outh and Massachusetts Bay " as men who were willing 
to brave danger and hardship, but with a full perception 
of the disagreeableness of the task, for the sake of obey- 
ing the dictates of their own consciences ; and who simply 
expelled from their Commonwealth those who stubbornly 
refused to comply with requisitions which they deemed 
essential. They were a voluntary association, and had 
certainly a right to prescribe the rules of their own 
society." 

Palfrey takes the same position : — 

" By charter from the English crown the land was theirs, as 
against all other civilized people, and they had a right to choose 
according to their own rules the associates who should help 
them to occupy and govern it [History of New England, i. 345] 
. . . Against internal dissensions they had an easy remedy. 
The freemen of the Massachusetts company had a right, in 
equity and in law, to expel from their territory all persons 
who should give them trouble. In their corporate capacity 
they were owners of Massachusetts, in fee, by a title to all 
intents as good as that by which any freeholder among them 
had held his English farm [i. 387]." 

Against the superficial and dangerous position taken 
by these writers, as well as by many others in their zeal 
to shield the early settlers of New England from re- 
proach, we must utter our protest. No people has a right 
to organize or administer civil government as it pleases, 
without regard to the bearing of its action upon mankind. 
No people has a right to claim freedom of conscience for 
itself and deny it to its children, or indeed to other men. 
By making membership in some one of the churches 
prerequisite to the exercise of the rights of a freeman, 
and by banishing religious dissenters, a State enters upon 



THE STATE AND RELIGION. 251 

a career of opposition to freedom and progress, and in- 
deed to the natural rights of man. Yet, according to the 
Colonial Eecords (I. p. 87): "At the first Cisatlantic 
Court for Election," "to the end the body of the com- 
mons may be preserved of honest and good men," it was 
" ordered and agreed that, for the time to come, no man 
shall be admitted to the freedom of this body politic but 
such as are members of some of the churches within the 
limits of the same," and it is well known that very soon 
laws were enacted to expel Baptists, Quakers, and other 
heretics from the colony. 

Now there are, it seems to us, sundry and grave objec- 
tions to a law which limits the freemen or voters of a 
colony or State to church-members. For, in the first 
place, it is unjust. It excludes from any share in the 
government upright, law-abiding, capable men, whose 
interest in the protection of life, liberty, and prop- 
erty is just as great as the interest of those who are 
permitted to act in civil affairs ; and unless the control 
or support of religion is a main purpose of the State, this 
is unjust. The traders might as fairly be excluded from 
a share in the government, because they are ignorant of 
farming. In the second place, it tempts men who are 
ambitious of power to enter the Church with a view to 
civil preferment ; and thus, in the end, is likely to place 
the power of the State in the hands of smooth-faced 
hypocrisy. In the third place, it diminishes the spiritual 
power of the churches by alluring unconverted men into 
them, — men who will perhaps defend the forms of reli- 
gion, but in spite of all their professions mar its purity 
and power. In the fourth place, it prejudices a large 
body of the people against religion. Men who have too 
much integrity, or self-respect, or even pride, to play the 



252 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

hypocrite for place, will be sure to feel that professors of 
religion are selfishly eager for the loaves and fishes, 
suspiciously prompt to seize upon earthly along with 
heavenly gain, and inexcusably anxious to lord it over 
Satan's heritage as well as God's. In the fifth place, it 
leads to over-much legislation in respect to religion. 
There is always a desire in those who have power to use 
it. If none but merchants were permitted to vote or 
hold office in Massachusetts, we might be certain that 
the interests of trade would be considered in the making 
and execution of all laws. The legislation would be to 
a great extent, legislation for a class, narrow, partial, 
unjust, and probably in the end injurious to that class, 
as well as to the whole people. And the same is true 
of every State which makes religion a qualification for 
civil office. In the sixth place, it interferes with reli- 
gious freedom by putting the power of the State into the 
hands of a particular denomination. This is always 
perilous to Christianity ; for history proves that reforma- 
tion, not to say progress, is the real life of the Church. 
Were it not for the wonderful power which the Christian 
religion has shown to renew itself by casting off impure 
accretions from the world, there would be no hope of its 
permanent success. But there is nothing which tends 
more persistently and naturally against free inquiry and 
radical change in matters of religion than binding it up 
with the State, and supporting it by the State. These 
are only a few of the many objections which might be 
fairly urged against the law of the colonists restricting 
suffrage to church-members. It was unjust, unwise, 
short-sighted, and prejudicial to the welfare of both 
State and Church ; and it proved the authors of it to be 
ambitious of power or weak in faith. 



THE STATE AND RELIGION. 253 

But this first piece of legislation was followed by 
others in harmony with it ; laws were made from time 
to time, taxing the whole people for the support of reli- 
gion as understood by the ruling citizens, and other laws 
for the banishment of dissenters from that religion. This 
is the legislation which the plea of Elliott and Palfrey 
was invented to justify, this the great sin which that 
plea is supposed to transmute into a virtue. But it will 
not do. The stain is there, and all the waters of the 
ocean will not wash it out. They were not ignorant of 
the law of Christ, — the golden rule. They claimed the 
right to obey his law as understood by themselves. They 
knew themselves to be fallible men, for they rejected the 
claim of the Pope, and declared that all Christians are 
liable to err. They knew that others differed from them 
in their interpretation of Scripture, and asked for only 
the same privilege 'which they themselves claimed. They 
had many noble and just men among them who protested 
against their cruel laws. Nay, more, some of those laws 
were passed with extreme difficulty by a bare majority, 
and only through the influence of the clergy. Hence 
they did not feel their way in the dark, but moved on in 
the face of day. We are, therefore, shocked at the heart- 
less tone with which Palfrey speaks of the sufferings of 
Obadiah Holmes, because, forsooth, that heroic man en- 
dured them without complaint, and, sustained by the 
grace of God, could say to the magistrates in whose pres- 
ence he had been terribly whipped, — thirty blows with a 
three- corded rope, the man striking with all his strength, 
— " You have struck me with roses." Does not Mr. 
Palfrey know that more than three hundred men and 
women were burnt at the stake under Bloody Mary, and 
scarcely one of them shrank from the fiery ordeal, while 



254 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

almost every one died with looks and words of triumph ? 
Does he not know that men have been torn on the rack 
or broiled over a slow fire, while uttering words not 
unlike those used by Obadiah Holmes ? Hundreds of 
thousands of peaceable and innocent men have been tor- 
tured and slain, with unrelenting cruelty, with as much 
reason and justice as Holmes was whipped in Boston. 
When we read these pages of history, the history of 
men who professed to be the followers of Christ, the 
whole heavens seem to grow black ; and a conviction that 
if there is anything in human conduct utterly and for- 
ever damnable, it is religious persecution (the natural 
offspring of State control in matters of faith), passes into 
a dreadful, and we believe, a holy detestation of that 
control. Far sooner would we cast in our lot with those 
who are torn in pieces joint by joint on the rack, till life 
ends in torture unutterable, than lift a finger to justify 
the union of Church and State or oppress a single soul in 
matters of faith. If there is any crime for which the 
Church of Christ ought to put on sackcloth and lie in the 
dust, it is that of using the power of the State to entice 
or coerce man into the adoption of a religious creed. 
We can think of nothing save a full assurance of infalli- 
bility that would approach the dignity of an excuse for 
such conduct, and no Protestant dare even pretend to 
be infallible. 

But this is a partial digression, and we must return and 
set in order our objections to the colonial laws by which 
dissenters were banished. First, those laws were tho- 
roughly hostile to religious inquiry and progress. This is 
too evident to need discussion. But religious inquiry in 
the hope of obtaining more light is the self-evident duty 
of all Christians. Even John Robinson avowed his belief 



THE STATE AND RELIGION. 255 

that there was yet more light to break forth from God's 
Word, and affirmed that the Pilgrims were under obliga- 
tion to seek or at least receive it. We hold that a Prot- 
estant is logically inconsistent and weak who doubts this. 
Secondly, those laws were manifestly selfish. They would 
not permit men whose faith was assumed to be erroneous, 
to dwell amid the meridian splendors of Christian sunlight 
falling upon the churches of Massachusetts Bay, but re- 
manded them back or sent them forth into comparative 
darkness ; and we hold that a State, and especially a State 
governed by Christians, has no right to be utterly selfish. 
Thirdly, those laws were unjust to men already in the 
colony ; for some of these men were becoming honestly 
convinced that the churches of the standing order were 
not formed after the law of Christ. It was oppressive to 
stifle free inquiry on their part, or compel them to leave 
the colony. Fourthly, those laws were unjust to the 
children born in the colony or brought there by their 
parents. For these children could not follow their own 
consciences in the worship of God, unless they agreed 
with the established order or left their homes for parts 
unknown. At this point one cannot fail to see the awful 
injustice of such legislation. Wherever there is a State 
there are children, and children of all ages, some of them 
passing from youth into manhood or womanhood, and 
feeling themselves charged with the supreme duty of life, 
that of engaging in the service of God according to their 
conviction of his will. But the laws of the State say, 
Worship thus and so, or go forth in poverty and disgrace 
whither you may. If such laws are right for one State, 
they are right for all, and if right for all, where shall the 
exiles go ? Plainly the theory of such laws is inconsist- 
ent with religious liberty on the part of any but those 



256 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

who frame them. We need not push our objections 
further. If those already stated are not convincing, the 
hundred and one still in reserve would fail to convince. 
Therefore we pass on. 

In attempting to ascertain the proper functions of the 
State in respect to religion, it may be assumed that only 
one, to wit, the protection of men in the exercise of their 
natural rights, or the task of securing to them, as against 
the violence of others, life, liberty, and property, is primary 
and undisputed. All others are still in question. We 
may therefore inquire, first, whether religion as such, and 
for the increase of its power, needs the support of the 
State ? And, second, whether religion should be supported 
by the State for the sake of its good influence on the peo- 
ple as citizens ? 

I. Does religion, as such, and for the increase of its 
saving power, need the support of the State ? ■ Mere specu- 
lation on this point will be of little service. 

It will be wiser to seek light from the Word of God and 
the history of our religion. We begin naturally with the 
former, and with the New Testament, instead of the Old, 
though the latter may be consulted afterwards. In look- 
ing at the New Testament four facts will be found worthy 
of attention. 

1. Christ committed to his disciples the work of preach- 
ing the gospel to every creature ; but in giving them this 
commission he made no allusion to consent or aid from 
the State. The command was explicit, and the work to 
be done required them to visit every land and attempt to 
change the religious life of every people ; but not a word 
was said of their asking the assistance or obtaining the 
permission of any civil ruler, nor a hint given that the 
State, as such, was needed to direct in the matter. If 



THE STATE AND RELIGION. 257 

any one should infer from the form of expression recorded 
by Matthew : " Go ye, therefore, make disciples of the 
nations," that the followers of Christ were to approach 
the people through their rulers and establish an organic 
union between State and Church, it is enough to reply 
that nations in their corporate form can neither be taught 
nor baptized, that the same expression is used in a previ- 
ous chapter to denote the people composing the nations, 
and that the parallel passage in Mark requires us to 
understand the phrase " all the nations " as equivalent to 
" every creature," or every man in the world. So then 
the fact to be weighed is simply this, that the Saviour 
committed the work of evangelizing mankind and teach- 
ing them to obey his will in all things, to his disciples, 
with no hint of aid to be sought or expected from the 
State. 

2. That Christ provided for the proper organization, in- 
struction, and discipline of his followers, thus preparing 
them for united action. This is evident from the history 
written by Luke, and called the Acts of the Apostles. 
Believers in Christ were brought together in churches, 
were furnished with leaders, were taught to meet on the 
Lord's Day for worship and instruction, and were encour- 
aged, if able, to assist the poor. Whatever else may be 
said of this primitive organization, it was at least from 
above and sufficient. Christians did not, therefore, need 
the patronage or constraint of " the powers that be " to 
hold them together in religious action. Disconnected 
and weak as they seemed to the world, yet with faith in 
their hearts they could be trusted to labor in concert for 
the great cause. " The locusts have no king, yet they go 
forth all of them by bands." And so it was with the 

early Christians. Having no visible head, and no aid 

17 



258 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

from the State, they were able, through the love of Jesus, 
to maintain order and carry the gospel to the ends of the 
earth. They were abgesondert wie die Woge, aber eine wie 
das Meer. 

3. Christ affirmed his Kingdom to be distinct in origin 
and agency from that of any earthly potentate. He de- 
scribed himself as King in the realm of truth. He repu- 
diated for himself, and for his followers to the end of 
time, the use of force in defending or extending his 
authority over men. In saying this we but offer a para- 
phrase of his reply to the Eoman Governor, when asked 
if he was the King of the Jews : " My kingdom is not of 
this world. If my kingdom were of this world, then 
would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered 
to the Jews ; but now is my kingdom not from hence. 
For this was I born, and for this came I into the world, 
that I should bear witness to the truth. Every one that 
is of the truth heareth my voice." In perfect agreement 
with the answer of Christ to Pilate was his response to 
certain Jews who questioned him about the lawfulness 
of giving tribute to Csesar : " Eender therefore to Caesar the 
things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are 
God's ; " for this response presupposes a distinction be- 
tween civil and religious affairs ; between the service 
which is due to an earthly sovereign and that which is 
due to the Supreme Euler; between the interests en- 
trusted to the State and those entrusted to the Church. 
The same distinction may also be inferred from his reply 
to one of the multitude, who said to him, " Master, bid my 
brother divide the inheritance with me," namely : " Man, 
who made me a judge or a divider over you ? " for such a 
reply would hardly have fallen from the lips of Christ, 
had the request pertained to the matters of his own 



THE STATE AND RELIGION. 259 

spiritual kingdom. In this connection we may also 
allude to his rebuke of the two disciples who asked: 
" Lord, wilt thou that we command fire to come down 
from heaven and consume them, as Elias did ? " For he 
replied, " Know ye not of what spirit ye are ? For the 
Son of Man came not to destroy the lives of men, but to 
save." 

4. The apostles denied the right of any persons in 
authority to restrain them from preaching the gospel. It 
is significant that there is no evidence of their applying, 
in a single instance, to rulers of any kind for permission 
to teach the new faith ; but it is still more significant that 
there is clear evidence of their declining to refrain from 
the work of teaching when commanded to do so by the 
highest court of their nation. Behold them standing before 
the Jewish Sanhedrin, and listen to the words of the high- 
priest as, in behalf of the Great Council, he commands 
Peter and John " not to speak at all, nor to teach in the 
name of Jesus." And what is their response ? " Whether 
it be right in the sight of God to hearken unto you more 
than unto God, judge ye. For we cannot but speak the 
things that we have seen and heard." And as if this were 
not enough, the scene repeats itself, — the apostles stand 
once more before the august tribunal, and the indignant 
high-priest growls : " Did we not straitly command you 
that ye should not teach in this name ? " While clear 
and firm, as before, the response comes : " We ought to 
obey God rather than men." Now bearing in mind the 
fact that a right to preach the gospel involves a right 
to organize churches, and, through them, carry on a sys- 
tematic effort to change the religious life of the whole 
people, it is safe to conclude from these replies that 
neither civil nor ecclesiastical rulers are authorized to 



260 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

determine what forms of religion may be taught among 
the people. And surely they cannot be supposed to use 
their power as rulers for the true religion without being- 
authorized to determine what that religion is. In obvious 
harmony with the apostles' language to the Jewish San- 
hedrin, was their conduct ever after. They acted on the 
assumption that religious truth should be laid before the 
mind of every man, in order that he might accept or 
reject it freely. They seem never to have sought the 
conversion of princes, as if these could be of any special 
service to the followers of Christ. From all this we con- 
clude that religion, as such, does not need the aid of the 
State. God has provided better means for its propagation 
and support than the power of civil government. Guided 
by the New Testament, we answer the question, "Does 
religion, as such, and for its own support, need the assist- 
ance of the State ? " in the negative. 

But does not the Old Testament teach a different les- 
son ? May we not infer from the constitution of the 
Jewish theocracy that religion needs support from the 
State ? By no means. Christianity is a great advance 
upon Judaism. The kingdom of Christ is organized in a 
far better manner for accomplishing spiritual good now, 
than it was under the old dispensation. This may be 
asserted on the basis of a single fact, — viz., The national 
organization for religion was deliberately set aside by 
the Lord, and another organization put in its place. If 
it could be good logic to defend the union of State and 
Church because they were united in the Jewish theoc- 
racy, it would be good logic to defend the introduction of 
infants into Christian churches because they were brought 
into the Jewish congregation when eight days old. But 
in neither case is the reasoning sound. The Jewish plan 



THE STATE AND RELIGION. 261 

was temporary, provisional, typical ; and in due time it 
gave way to a higher and better economy. It was in one 
sense a failure, just as the Law itself was in one sense a 
failure; yet both were good as a preparation for some- 
thing better. Besides, the Jewish theocracy included in 
its very idea the presence of God among the people, by 
the gift of inspiration. Prophets abounded. Many of the 
judges were prophets. In doubtful cases God revealed 
his will by special means. He was himself, theoretically, 
the civil head of the nation ; and by inspired rulers, or 
messengers sent to them, by the Urim and Thummim of 
the high-priest, or by other means of a supernatural char- 
acter, he kept himself at the helm of the State. If the 
Pope were really infallible in civil and religious affairs, 
by virtue of divine illumination vouchsafed in every time 
of need, the union of Church and State under him would 
be analogous to the Jewish theocracy ; but there is no 
sufficient evidence of his infallibility, and his civil power 
seems at last to have slipped between his fingers. We 
do not therefore find anything in the Old Testament 
which favors the view that the Christian religion needs 
support from the State. All that its friends should ask 
is fair and full protection with others in the exercise of 
their natural rights. 

The same conclusion will be reached by a careful study 
of church history. For nearly three hundred years after 
Christ, his followers increased without State aid. " The 
powers that be " were never on their side, and generally 
hostile. Persecution swept away many of their leaders ; 
fear of violence deterred many persons from joining them; 
heavy taxes, collected by publicans and sinners, kept them 
poor; and all things, but God and truth, were against 
them. Yet they prospered greatly ; converts were made ; 



262 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

schools were established ; copies of the Bible were multi-. 
plied ; charities were founded ; defences of the new re- 
ligion were written ; and Christians gained steadily in 
numbers and in influence. Let no one say that Christi- 
anity is dependent on even common justice for its 
existence, or its success. It flourished in spite of civil 
oppression. Tertullian, who lived in the days of perse- 
cution, declares that the blood of Christians is seed ; 
and, if we are not in error, the frown of the " powers that 
be " is less dangerous to the Church than their patronage 
and control. For when the tables were turned, and the 
Eoman r Emperor made Christianity, to all intents and 
purposes, the religion of the State, pride, ambition, luxury, 
strife, and spiritual weakness began to sap the very foun- 
dations of godliness in the Church. Her members, bask- 
ing in the sunshine of royal favor, turned to envying and 
hating one another, so that within less than fifty years 
they called upon the State to persecute some of their own 
body. From the day when Church and State were virtu- 
ally united under Constantine, until the present hour, the 
influence of that union has tended to secularize Christi- 
anity. The purest faith and the best work have been 
found among dissenters from the established churches. 
This we believe to be a simple statement of facts ; and if 
it be so, our first question is answered by evidence from 
all the sources within our reach, and answered in the 
negative. Religion as such, and for the attainment of its 
specific ends, does not require, and should not seek nor 
accept, the support of the State. It should do its own 
work by the methods and agencies appointed by the Lord, 
and so laboring it is certain of success. But if it lean 
upon the State for support, the latter will be like Egypt 
to Israel, — " the staff of a bruised reed, on which if a man 



THE STATE AND RELIGION. 263 

lean it will go into his hand and pierce it." The more 
exclusively Christians rely upon truth as their weapon, 
and the Spirit of God as their helper, and the more scru- 
pulously they guard the Church from dependence on the 
State, the stronger will they be for all the purposes of 
true religion. 

It remains for us to attempt a reply to the other ques- 
tion proposed, viz. : — 

II. Should religion be supported by the State for the 
sake of its good influence on the people as citizens ? We 
are very far from denying the value of religion to the 
State, very far from calling in question the inestimable 
service which it renders to morals and civil order. Reli- 
gion, " pure and undefiled," is a blessing to any people, 
and to all the interests of the people. Education, virtue, 
health, business, order in families, in cities, in nations, 
are all fostered by religion. We are not a whit behind 
the most enthusiastic of Christians in urging the impor- 
tance of religion as the best aid to the police and the best 
friend of the philanthropist. But the State has many 
helpers which it does not reward or support. Because a 
good energetic man is of great value to the State, it need 
not undertake to control him in his private work, or step 
in to give him a bounty which he does not need, and 
which will weaken his influence, if not undermine his 
virtue. There are objects too pure and delicate to bear 
the manipulation of politics without harm. The best 
thing which the State can do for them is to let them 
alone, allow them to grow by the forces of their own 
nature, and be governed by its laws. One of these is 
religion. The State will have most aid from religion by 
leaving it to work in its own way, with the forces and 
the methods which God has prescribed for it by its very 



264 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

nature. This is the one sufficient reply to our second 
question. If religion does not need the aid of the State 
to maintain itself in the greatest purity and power; if 
religion will do its work through the ages better without 
State control or patronage than with it, then the State 
has no reason to regulate or support it. Nay, more, it 
will harm rather than benefit itself by attempting either. 
Hence all that was said in answer to the first question is 
equally convincing as an answer to the second, and we 
have no occasion to discuss the matter further. 

It may, however, be well to notice a few instances in 
which many persons discover formidable objections to 
the position maintained in this essay. The first of these 
relates to the Lord's Day ; the second, to the use of the 
Bible in public schools ; the third, to the employment of 
chaplains ; the fourth, to the taxing of church property ; 
and the fifth, to the crime of polygamy. 

The Lord's Day, it is said, is a Christian institution, 
and the general suspension of business on that day is 
essential to the religious welfare of the people. Yet this 
suspension can only be secured by civil constraint, and 
therefore the State is under obligation to forbid cus- 
tomary labor on the Lord's Day. This objection is cer- 
tainly plausible, but we do not think it conclusive. For, 
first, Christianity has flourished in many nations, for long 
periods, without any legal Sabbath. During the first 
three centuries this was the case, and it is now the case 
in all heathen lands. Secondly, it may be fairly ques- 
tioned whether legislation does much in Christian lands 
at the present day to secure the observance of the Sab- 
bath. The sentiments of the people are everywhere the 
chief, if not the controlling power in such matters. 
Thirdly, there are other considerations, besides those 



THE STATE AND RELIGION. 265 

strictly religious, which would justify the State in re- 
quiring the people to rest from ordinary labor one day 
in seven ; and where a majority of the people desires this 
to be the Lord's Day, it may properly be selected, at least 
for them. If a majority of the people were Jews, we 
think that Saturday should be chosen as the day of rest, 
Christianity does not wish to oppress any man's con- 
science. It only asks a fair field. There is no command 
or principle to be found in the New Testament which 
requires believers in Christ to enforce upon unbelievers 
rest from business on the Lord's Day ; but they them- 
selves are entitled to the privilege of quiet worship, as 
they are indeed on any other day. 

In respect to the use of the Bible in schools supported 
by the State, we have this to say, namely : First, there is 
no good and sufficient reason why the State should fur- 
nish to all the people anything more than the rudiments 
of education, such as children may and should obtain 
before they are old enough to leave their own homes ; 
and at this early age their religious training properly be- 
longs to parents and Sabbath-School teachers. Secondly. 
there is no sufficient reason why the public schools should 
be made offensive to Jews or Papists, Buddhists or Mo- 
hammedans, by enforcing the use of the common version 
of the Xew Testament. All the reasons which can be 
urged for requiring the Bible, as a religious book, to be 
read in public schools, might be urged for putting the 
Koran into Turkish schools, and the Yedas, or Life of 
Gautama, into Burman schools. Thirdly, the morals of 
Christianity can be taught, even in public schools, with- 
out reading the Bible there. Yet there is no objection to 
the use of portions of the Bible, regarded and treated as 
an English classic, if that be thought desirable. Nay 



266 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

more, large portions of it may properly be read as a reli- 
gious classic, representing the belief of a majority of the 
people, and containing important information respecting 
Christ and his teaching. Indeed, it would be absurd to 
insist upon excluding the best historical, moral, or even 
religious parts' of the Bible from the literature put into 
the hands of American youth. As well attempt to ex- 
punge all references to God and Christ from the writings 
of Milton, Addison, or Shakspeare, before allowing them 
to be read by our children ! But it is one thing to give 
the children a knowledge of the simplest facts and prin- 
ciples of the Christian religion, and another thing to assert 
any particular view of those facts and principles as di- 
vine. The State may do the former, but it cannot safely 
do the latter. And with equal right, though not with 
equal reason, the State may give the children a knowledge 
of the essential facts and principles of Judaism, Islamism, 
Buddhism, or Mormonism, as forms of religious belief ex- 
isting in the land, but it cannot pronounce them divine. 

As to the employment of chaplains by the State, we be- 
lieve it unnecessary, and therefore unwise. In most in- 
stances public bodies are quite able to pay for the services 
of their own chaplains, without calling upon the State. If 
able, and unwilling, the proper remedy would be to put 
better men in charge of public affairs. For instances of 
inability, the various denominations would cheerfully 
make provision. Besides, it is well known that appoint- 
ment to chaplainships is commonly in the hands of one 
or two favorite denominations, and that their duties are 
discharged in a perfunctory manner. 

The taxing of church property would perhaps follow a 
complete separation of State and Church. We say " per- 
haps," because relief from taxation might possibly be jus- 



THE STATE AND RELIGION. 267 

tilled on other than religious grounds. If churches were 
self-perpetuating bodies, not very liable to extinction, and 
if their property were always held in trust for a public 
object, with no prospect of yielding an income to indi- 
viduals, or of being resumed by them, it might be prudent 
and just to relieve it from taxation. But there are grave 
reasons for caution in this matter. There are dangers to 
religion and to the State in proceeding very far in this 
direction. Wherever the property of the Church is held 
by the hierarchy, we believe the State ought not to 
relieve it from taxation. Class legislation is perilous. 
Moreover, the temptation to the rich of building costly 
churches for their own gratification would be greatly 
diminished, if they were made to look forward to the 
payment of a moderate annual tax on the same, and to 
understand that this tax must be paid by their chil- 
dren or their successors forever. The removal of this 
temptation would be a real advantage to the cause of 
God. 

Finally, the sin of polygamy may be treated as a crime 
against society, and therefore amenable to the laws of 
the State. Marriage is the normal condition of men 
and women. They are adapted by their physical, men- 
tal, and moral nature for this condition. And the num- 
ber of the one sex qualified and disposed to enter the 
married state is about equal, to that of the other the 
world over. Hence any man who appropriates two 
women to himself deprives another of a blessing to which 
he is entitled by the very constitution of his being, and 
such an act should be prohibited by the State as a vio- 
lation of natural right. The only alternatives, therefore, 
are monogamy and sexual communism. But the latter is 
demonstrably incompatible with the higher and purer 



268 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

instincts of our nature, as well as with the proper sup- 
port and training of children. The State should, there- 
fore, without regard to the claims of religion, enforce the 
law of monogamy, as against communism or polygamy. 
In doing this, it will of course have the united and hearty 
support of Christians. Their religious convictions, their 
consistent example, and their strong social influence will 
make the task of the State comparatively easy in every 
country where they are numerous ; and where they are 
not, the State can hardly expect to enforce monogamy as 
a Christian duty. 

Our reply to these objections has been brief, and per- 
haps in itself unsatisfactory ; but considered as a reply to 
objections against a doctrine resting on the plain authority 
of Christ, and the impressive lessons of history, it will be 
accepted, we trust, as sufficient. The topic discussed is 
one of great practical interest. The view that has been 
advanced seems to us the only one by which our right to 
demand religious freedom in any part of the world can 
be successfully vindicated, the only one by which the 
horrors of religious persecution can be prevented here- 
after, and the only one consistent with personal responsi- 
bility to God in matters of religion. It is now more than 
twenty years since we gave the subject a careful exami- 
nation ; and the conclusion which we then reached has 
not been changed by a frequent reinvestigation of the 
subject. 

One of the topics referred to above merits further con- 
sideration. Much has been said concerning the duty of 
the State to teach the children of its schools good morals, 
and of the impossibility of doing this sufficiently without 
using the Bible as a revelation of God's will. We admit 
that the State ought to look after the moral education of 



THE STATE AND RELIGION. 269 

the children in its schools, in so far, at least, as such 
education is needed to qualify them for good citizenship. 
We also believe that the number of children in the public 
schools whose parents are too ignorant or too evil to 
teach them good morals, is so great as to call for much 
instruction by teachers in those schools concerning the 
principles and practice of morality. But is it necessary 
to make use of the Bible as the source of this moral in- 
struction ? Granting it to be in our judgment the best 
and purest source of moral principles, is it therefore the 
only source, or the one which ought to be employed with- 
out regard to the consciences of those who deny its 
authority ? Cannot the end sought by the State be 
reached in some other way ? The following is proposed 
for examination. It may not be new, but the writer does 
not recollect seeing it in any discussions of the subject. 

Moral principles are imbedded in the constitution and 
laws of every well-ordered State. Legislation may be 
supposed to represent, in most respects, the deepest con- 
victions of the people as to their rights and duties in 
relation to one another. From it may be learned the 
sacredness of human life, liberty, and reputation, of jus- 
tice, veracity, and patriotism, of social virtue, domestic 
purity, and business integrity. They teach the wrongful- 
ness of fraud, theft, gambling, falsehood, slander, and 
almost every kind of evil-doing. It must not be supposed 
that a text-book of morals, founded on the principles of 
civil law, would be identical in every respect with the 
teaching of Jesus Christ ; but such a book would explain 
the common duties of life with great clearness, and in 
the hands of faithful teachers, would be of inestimable 
service to children that have little instruction and only 
bad example at home. It would also serve to familiarize 



270 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

the children with law and justice, in so far as these were 
used for purposes of illustration by the book or the 
teacher. Such a manual could be easily prepared by any 
well-furnished lawyer who was thoroughly interested in 
the moral training of children in our public schools ; and 
in no other way could so great a blessing be conferred on 
the people. Perhaps the sources of moral truth might be 
enlarged, without infringing on the rights of conscience, 
by comparing the laws of the land with those of other 
enlightened nations on the same subjects. Surely the 
ideal of conduct presented by the life and precepts of 
Christ might be referred to with advantage. We do 
not see how any one could object to such teaching of 
morality in schools supported by the State ; and if with 
practical morals thus taught, any sect of Christians or 
Buddhists should insist upon having parish schools for 
the religious instruction of their children, the State could 
not offer them any aid, and would not be likely to put 
any obstacle in their way, so long as the education fur- 
nished was sound and patriotic. But if there were clear 
evidence of poor or disloyal instruction, the State might 
properly interfere and require attendance on the public 
schools. 



THE LORD'S DAY. 

THERE are Christians among ns who deem it their 
duty, in obedience to the fourth command, to keep 
the seventh day of the week holy, by resting from all 
secular labor, and who find no authority in the New 
Testament for observing the first day of the week as a 
stated time for religious worship. There are other Chris- 
tians among us who deem it their duty, in obedience to 
the fourth command, to keep the first day of the week 
holy, by resting from all secular labor, and who find, or 
think they find, in the New Testament, authority for 
substituting the first day of the week for the last, as a 
stated time for religious worship. There are other 
Christians among us who believe it their duty to keep 
the first day of the week holy, in obedience to the will 
of Christ, made known by the example of the apostles 
and primitive churches, — an example which is all the 
more certainly binding on them from the circumstance 
that one day in seven had been set apart by divine au- 
thority for religious worship in the Mosaic economy, and 
probably from the beginning. And there are still other 
Christians among us who believe it their duty to observe 
the first day of the week, simply because the Church has 
ordained it, and found it useful, while the New Testa- 
ment neither enjoins nor forbids the keeping of holy 
days. Christians of the last two classes are more numer- 



272 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

ous on the continent of Europe than they are in either 
England or America. 

The object of this paper will be to lay, not a new or 
conspicuous, but a true and sufficient foundation for the 
duty of keeping the Lord's Day. 

In proof of this duty we appeal — 

I. To evidence which the New Testament affords that this 
day was observed by the apostles and primitive Christians. 
The first hint of this observance, if we follow the order 
of time, may be found in 1 Cor. xvi. 1, 2. For this epis- 
tle appears to have been written early in the year 57 or 
58, about one year before Paul's third visit to Troas, and 
several years before the composition of the Acts of the 
Apostles by Luke. The passage to which we appeal may 
be translated thus : " Now concerning the collection for 
the saints, as I gave order to the churches of Galatia, so 
also do ye. On every first day of the week, let each one 
of you, by himself, place in store whatever he is prospered 
in, that when I come, there may then be no collections 
made." This direction of the apostle is very clear as to 
the duty of systematic giving ; but why did he select the 
first day of the week as the time for setting apart money 
to be used in charity ? Alford says : " Here is a plain 
indication that the day was already considered as a 
special one, and one more than others fitting for the 
performance of a religious duty." Meyer's comment is 
to the same effect : " It follows from our passage that 
Sunday was holy to the Christian consciousness, and 
therefore suited to such acts of love." The note of 
De Wette is very brief, but decisive as to his view : " On 
the first day of the week, the holy day of the Christians." 
Hengstenberg speaks more at length in his treatise on 
the Lord's Day, thus : " To relieve the necessities of the 



THE LORD'S DAY. 273 

saints is a work befitting a holy day ; for on it the hearts 
of believers are more open and inclined to give. The 
statement that the apostle had prescribed the same thing 
for all the churches in Galatia, shows that Sunday was 
also observed by them." 

The "Baptist Missionary Magazine" has a paragraph to 
this effect : " A few years ago a Christian wife, in Ash- 
land County, Ohio, was suddenly called from earth to her 
reward on high. Soon after, her husband discovered in 
the room which she was wont to use for private devotion, 
a box containing a sum of money, and in it, a memoran- 
dum, satisfying him that this was her treasury, wherein 
she was accustomed to lay aside regularly money with 
which to meet any call that might be made on her 
benevolence." Thus her giving was associated with her 
worship, her laying aside for charity with her nearest 
approach to God. On the same principle we suppose 
that Sunday was chosen by the apostle as the day on 
which the early Christians should set apart their alms for 
the poor. His direction is best accounted for by suppos- 
ing that the first day of the week was their sacred day, 
the time when they rested from ordinary labor and gave 
themselves up to spiritual service and joy. 

But is there in this passage any hint of meetings for 
religious worship on the first day of the week ? Any 
reason to suppose that the laying by in store is to be ex- 
plained of depositing the money in a treasury replenished 
by gifts from the whole Church ? This question is an- 
swered in the negative by many expositors. Meyer says : 
" The passage does not imply that Sunday was then ob- 
served by the holding of religious assemblies, though 
this is to be assumed from traces elsewhere " (Acts xx. 7). 

" It is to be observed," remarks Stanley, " that there is 

18 



274 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

i 

nothing to prove public assemblies, inasmuch as the 
phrase ' by himself ' implies that the collection was to be 
made individually and in private. This is confirmed by 
the exhortation, in allusion to the same subject, in 2 Cor. 
ix. 7 : ' Let each man give as he has determined in his 
heart, not grudgingly or of necessity ; for God loveth a 
cheerful giver.' " But we are unable to see how the 
latter passage confirms the view that the treasure for 
charity was to be laid up at home, rather than in • a public 
chest. And certainly there is force in Dr. Hodge's remark 
that the last clause of the second verse suggests a public 
collection, a putting of the gifts into a common treasury, 
for benevolent use. For the apostle makes the regula- 
tion, to employ his own words, "in order that when I 
come, there may then be no collections ; " and the word 
" collections " must refer to public rather than to private 
acts, — to gathering the contributions of money for a chari- 
table object, rather than to laying up a treasure at home. 
And I am not sure that the sense of the words rendered 
" by himself " is inconsistent with the view suggested by 
the clause in question. 

Yet the passage, taken by itself, affords no more than 
a significant and valuable hint of what we are seeking. 
But it need not be taken by itself ; for in the twentieth 
chapter of the Acts there is a clearer reference to what 
we seek. The passage describes an event which took 
place about a year after the first Epistle to the Corin- 
thians was written, and therefore in 58 or 59 A. D. It is 
regarded by the best expositors as affording proof, more 
or less decisive, of a regular observance of the first day of 
the week, by Christians, for public worship. Let us en- 
deavor to study the narrative with some care, and draw 
from it whatever instruction it contains. 



THE LORD'S DAY. 275 

The writer is Luke, and he is speaking of Paul and 
himself. Omitting a clause foreign to our purpose, he 
says, verses 6, 7: "We sailed forth from Philippi, . . . 
and came to them in Troas in five days : where we abode 
seven days. And on the first day of the week, we hav- 
ing come together to break bread, Paul discoursed to 
them," etc. Several things are worthy of notice here. 
First, the meeting described is said to have been held on 
the first day of the week. To this fact Baumgarten calls 
attention, saying : " If the first day of the week had not 
in itself some peculiar claim on our attention, what could 
have induced Luke, at the very commencement of his 
narrative, to remark, that what he was about to relate 
took place on the first day of the week ? " The view of 
Baumgarten is confirmed by the circumstance that it is 
not Luke's custom to mention ordinary week-days by 
names or numerals. Secondly, Paul and Luke tarried in 
Troas seven days, and the meeting in question was held 
on the day before their departure. It seems altogether 
probable that they abode seven days in Troas in order 
that they might meet the whole body of the disciples at 
their regular time of worship. We know that this last 
day was Sunday, and therefore the day of their arrival 
was Monday. Their remaining one week, and Luke's dis- 
tinct record of this fact, are best accounted for by suppos- 
ing that the disciples were wont to meet for worship on the 
first day of the week. Thirdly, the assembly appears to 
have been composed for the most part of believers ; in 
other words, it was a church. Paul had visited the place 
twice before. His first visit seems to have been very 
short, but his second was longer. Conybeare and How- 
son thus describe it (II. pp. 91-92) : " Being forced to 
leave Ephesus prematurely, he had resolved to wait for 



276 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

Titus at Troas, expecting, however, his speedy arrival. 
In this expectation he was disappointed ; week after 
week passed, but Titus came not. While waiting in this 
uncertainty St. Paul appears to have suffered all the 
sickness of hope deferred. ' My spirit had no rest, be- 
cause I found not Titus, my brother.' Nevertheless, his 
personal anxiety did not prevent his laboring earnestly 
and successfully in his Master's service. He published 
the glad tidings of Christ. He met with a ready hearing. 
'A door was opened to him in the Lord.' And thus was 
laid the foundation of a church which rapidly increased, 
and which we shall find him revisiting not long after- 
wards," that is, at the time of our narrative. 

In view of these facts, that the meeting in Troas was 
on the first day of the week, that Paul and Luke abode 
in Troas seven days and on the last of the seven attended 
this meeting, and that the assembly came together to 
break bread, being manifestly a Christian church, we 
look upon this narrative as furnishing good evidence 
that the first day of the week was set apart by the 
primitive churches, under apostolic direction, as the regu- 
lar time for public worship. The passage, fairly inter- 
preted, implies as much as this. For Paul distinctly 
teaches in his first Epistle to the Corinthians, that he 
aimed to establish the same usages in all the churches. 
(See 1 Cor. vii. 17 ; xi. 16 ; xiv. 33 sq. ; xvi. 1, 2.) 

From the twentieth chapter of the Acts, we turn to 
the first chapter of the Eevelation, and from the fifth 
decade of the Christian era to the ninth. For, according 
to the oldest and best tradition, we believe the last book 
in the New Testament to have been written near the 
close of John's life and Domitian's reign, almost forty 
years after Paul's third visit to Troas. Yet nothing 



THE LORD'S DAY. 277 

depends upon the precise date of the Apocalypse. The 
argument would be essentially the same if it was written 
in the sixties or in the nineties. And in the passage to 
be examined (verse 10) John says : " I was in the Spirit on 
the Lord's Day." The closest scrutiny will reveal no rea- 
son whatever for doubting that by " the Lord's Day," the 
sacred writer meant the first day of the week, which had 
now come to be known among Christians as " the Lord's 
Day." Friedrich Diisterdieck, author of the Commentary 
on Revelation in Meyer's Series, says that " The Lord's 
Day " (" Lord's Supper," 1 Cor. xi. 20), is the first day of 
the week, or Sunday, which was celebrated as the day of 
the Lord's resurrection," and rejects every other meaning 
as untenable. " That the expression - Lord's Day ' here 
refers to Sunday," says Hengstenberg, "is evident from 
the circumstance that in the earliest Greek and Latin 
Fathers, though living in countries most widely sepa- 
rated, Sunday, and never Easter, is called the Lord's Day. 
This is now admitted by almost all scholars." 

It may indeed, be affirmed with perfect confidence that 
this passage in Revelation proves the first day of the week 
to have been known among Christians before the close of 
the first century as the Lord's Day. This name is applied 
to no other day of the week, or of the year, by any Chris- 
tian writer of the first five centuries. To the apostles and 
primitive Christians, Sunday was then, by way of distinc- 
tion and pre-eminence, the Lord's Day, and so it is almost 
certain that if they had any stated time for Christian 
worship, it was this day. 

But that they were accustomed to meet for worship at 
regular times, is assumed by the writer of the Epistle to 
the Hebrews in a familiar passage (x. 25) : " Not forsak- 
ing the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner 



278 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

of some is, but exhorting one another, and so much the 
more as ye see the day approaching." This language is 
best explained by supposing that the Hebrew Christians 
had their own weekly meeting for religious worship ; that 
some had fallen into the habit of neglecting it, perhaps 
for another ; and that the writer deemed it of vital impor- 
tance, because it furnished the disciples opportunities for 
mutual exhortation and provoking one another to love 
and good works. The words may be translated, " not for- 
saking our own meeting " or assembly. We look upon 
the passage therefore as based on the assumption of reg- 
ular meetings in the case of every church for the edifica- 
tion of its members. It seems, then, to imply also the 
existence of some stated day of meeting. 

Hence, to gather up the results of our study thus far, 
it appears that the primitive Christians, under inspired 
tuition, met at stated times for public worship ; that they 
denominated Sunday the Lord's Day by way of pre-emi- 
nence ; that they met as if by rule, on that day, for the 
breaking of bread and social worship ; and that they were 
commanded to make a treasure, by each one's free act, for 
charitable use, adding to it something on every Lord's 
Day. It seems, therefore, to have been pre-eminently the 
Christians' day as well as the Lord's Day. Nor is this 
wonderful. 

For on that day of the week Christ rose from the dead, 
and appeared to his disciples five times before they went 
to rest. Nay, more, as if this were not enough to make it 
the first of days to Christians through all time, he distin- 
guished it still further by meeting with his disciples on 
the same day one week later. The Jewish Sabbath, 
during which the dead body of Christ rested in Joseph's 
tomb, was a day of unutterable gloom and despair to the 



THE LORD'S DAY. 279 

Eleven, while the following Sunday became to them a 
day of infinite joy and hope. Wisely, therefore, did the 
Spirit of inspiration who was to guide them into all the 
truth, move them to select the first day of the week for 
public worship, the breaking of bread, and works of charity. 

And in such a case as this, where the object which led 
the apostles to visit the synagogues on the Sabbath is 
perfectly patent and sufficient, without supposing any 
sense of obligation to keep that day; where, too, there is 
no particle of evidence extant that they ever chose that 
day for Christian worship among the Gentiles alone ; and 
where finally there is good evidence that they selected 
the first day of the week for worship distinctively Chris- 
tian, — in such a case, we say, bearing in mind the inspira- 
tion of the apostles, and their foundation-laying office 
in the kingdom of God, we take their example to be no 
less sacred than would have been the example of Christ 
in like circumstances, and we accept their conduct as an 
unmistakable declaration of his will. 

Our next appeal must be — 

II. To evidence which the early Christian writers afford 
that this day was observed from the first age as sacred. 
This evidence is merely confirmatory ; and even as con- 
firmatory its value depends upon its age and universality. 
That which has been taught and practised as Christian 
semper et ubique et ab omnibus is almost certainly apos- 
tolic ; but this canon endorses no one of the extra-biblical 
usages of Christendom. Xeither infant baptism nor epis- 
copacy, neither the papal supremacy nor the immaculate 
conception, neither the invocation of saints nor prayers 
for the dead, can bear the test of this rule, even if the 
semper be restricted to the first three centuries, and the 
ab omnibus be limited to churches considered orthodox. 



280 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

But, if we mistake not, the observance of the Lord's Day 
by the early Christians will bear the test of this rule, and 
your attention is therefore invited to several expressions 
in the writings of the Fathers and their contemporaries. 

In the well-known letter of Pliny to Trajan, written 
about a.d. 103, is the following instructive paragraph : 
" The Christians affirm the whole of their guilt or error to 
be, that they were accustomed to meet together on a 
stated day — stato die — before it was light, and to sing, 
responsively, a hymn to Christ as God, and to bind them- 
selves by an oath, — sacr amentum, — not for any wicked 
purpose, but never to commit fraud, theft, or adultery; 
never to break their word, or to refuse, when called upon, 
to deliver up any trust ; after which, it was their custom 
to separate, and to assemble again to take a meal, but a 
general one, and without guilty purpose." But this letter 
does not mention the name of the stated day on which 
the disciples of Christ then met for worship and breaking 
of bread. 

In the Epistle ascribed to Barnabas, and written it is 
supposed before a.d. 120, occurs the following passage 
(ch. 15) : " Ye see how it says, Your present Sabbaths are 
not acceptable to me, but what I have made, when, having 
brought all things to rest, I shall make a beginning of an 
eighth day, that is, a beginning of another world. Where- 
fore also we celebrate the eighth day with joy, in which 
also Jesus rose from the dead, and having manifested 
himself, ascended into the heavens." This must be ac- 
cepted as a distinct testimony to the fact that Christians 
in the first quarter of the second century kept the first 
day of the week as a day of religious joy. 

In the " Teaching of the Twelve Apostles," a Christian 
writing of unknown authorship, but probably belonging 



THE LORD'S DAY. 281 

to the first half of the second century, we have these 
words : " But on the Lord's Day do ye assemble and break 
bread and give thanks, after confessing your transgres- 
sions, that your sacrifice may be pure." And this "is 
striking testimony," to use the words of Eev. A. Bauschen- 
busch, " that the first day of the week was celebrated by 
Christians at the time when this writing was composed." 
For the " breaking of bread," spoken of, is evidently char- 
acterized as a sacrifice which was to be offered by an 
assembly of Christians. It was to be a church act ; they 
were to assemble in order to do it. 

Justin Martyr was born at Nablous, near the site of 
the ancient Shechem, about a.d. 100, and became a Chris- 
tian in Asia Minor, about 130. His first Apology is sup- 
posed to have been presented to the emperors before the 
year 140. Speaking of Christians in this Apology, he 
says : " On the day called Sunday, is an assembly of all 
who live either in the cities or in the rural districts, and 
the memoirs of the apostles and the writings of the proph- 
ets are read." Further on, he assigns the reasons which 
Christians had for meeting on Sunday. " It is the first 
dav, on which God made a change in the darkness and 
matter and formed the world, and upon it Jesus Christ 
our Saviour rose from the dead " (ch. 67). In his Dialogue 
with Trypho he says : " The command to circumcise in- 
fants on the eighth clay was a type of the true circumci- 
sion by which we are circumcised from error and wicked- 
ness through our Lord Jesus Christ, who rose from the 
dead on the first day of the week ; therefore it remains 
the first and chief of clays " (ch. xii. adjinem). 

Bardesanes, the heretic, uses the following language in 
a book addressed to the emperor Marcus Aurelius Anto- 
ninus (a.d. 161 sq.) : " What then shall we say respecting 



282 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

the new race of ourselves who are Christians, whom in 
every country and in every region the Messiah established 
at his coining ; for lo ! wherever we be, all of us are called 
by the one name of the Messiah, Christians ; and upon 
one day, which is the first of the week, we assemble our- 
selves together, and on the appointed days we abstain 
from food " (Cureton's Translation). 

Eusebius (Hist. Eccl. B. iv. cli. 23) quotes these words 
from a letter of Dionysius of Corinth, a.d. 175, to Soter 
of Borne : " To-day we keep the Lord's holy day, in which 
we have read your epistle. In reading which we shall 
always have our minds stored with admonition, as we 
shall also from that written to us before by Clement." 
Evidently the Christians met for instruction, edification, 
and worship on " the Lord's holy day." 

Clement of Alexandria speaks of a Gnostic Christian 
(Strom, vii. 12) as one " who fulfilling the gospel command 
makes that day a Lord's day, when he abandons an evil 
and receives a Gnostic disposition, glorifying the Lord's 
resurrection in himself ; " and there seems to be in this 
language a recognition, at least, of the Lord's Day as a 
time of special religious devotion. With this somewhat 
indefinite testimony may be associated that of Clement's 
younger contemporary, Tertullian, who says (Apol. ch. 
16) : "In the same way, if we devote Sunday to rejoicing, 
from a far different reason than Sun-worship, we have 
some resemblance to those of you who devote the day of 
Saturn to ease and luxury, though they go too far away 
from Jewish customs, of which indeed they are ignorant." 
Again (De Idol. ch. 14) he says ; " By us to whom Sab- 
baths are strange, and the new moons and festivals for- 
merly loved by God, the Saturnalia and New- Year's and 
Mid-Summer's festivals and Matronalia are frequented, — 



THE LORD'S DAY. 283 

presents come and go — New Years gifts-games join their 
noise, banquets their din ! Oh, better fidelity of the 
nations to their own sect, which claims no solemnity of 
the Christians for itself ! Not the Lord's Day, nor Pente- 
cost, even if they had known them, would they have 
shared with us ; for they would fear lest they should 
seem to be Christians." Further (in De Cor. ch. 3) it is 
said: "We consider fasting and kneeling in worship on 
the Lord's Day to be unlawful" (nefas) ; and (in De Orat. 
ch. 23), "We, however, just as we have received, only on 
the Lord's Day when he rose, ought to guard not only 
against kneeling, but against every posture or office of soli- 
citude, deferring business also, lest we give place to the 
devil." 

Origen considers it one of the marks of a perfect Chris- 
tian to keep the Lord's Day. Thus in his work against 
Celsus, he writes that " the perfect Christian, being always 
in the words and the works and the thoughts of the Logos 
of God who is by nature Lord, is always keeping Lord's 
days " (Contr. Cels. viii. § 22). And in another place he 
asserts the superiority of the Lord's Day to the Sabbath, 
as follows : " For if this is clear from the divine Scrip- 
tures, that God rains manna from heaven on the Lord's 
Day, and does not rain it on the Sabbath-day, let the Jews 
understand that even then our Lord's Day was preferred 
to the Jewish Sabbath. Even then it was intimated that 
on their Sabbath no grace of God would descend to them 
from heaven, that no celestial bread, which is the Word 
of God, would come to them. . . . For in our Lord's Day, 
God always rains manna from heaven " (Com. in Exod. v., 
ii. p. 154, A.). Thus Origen recognizes the ministry of the 
Word on Sunday. On that day Christians were nourished 
by the celestial manna. Through the veil of his allegorical 



284 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

interpretation we discover the great historical fact that 
believers in Christ met on the first day of the week for 
religious worship, and especially for instruction out of the 
Sacred Writings. It is possible to reject his interpreta- 
tion as fanciful, but it is scarcely possible to doubt his 
testimony to the general observance of the Lord's Day by 
Christians. 

Cyprian and his colleagues, in a synodical letter, a.d. 
253, speak of the Lord's Day in the following terms : 
" That in the Jewish circumcision of the flesh the eighth 
day was celebrated, was a pre-appointed sacrament in 
shadow and type, but it was fulfilled when Christ came. 
For because the eighth day, that is, the first after the 
Sabbath, was the future day on which the Lord should 
rise from the dead and vivify us, and give us spiritual cir- 
cumcision, this eighth day, that is, the first after the Sab- 
bath and the Lord's Day, went before in an image, which 
image ceased with the coming of reality and with the 
spiritual circumcision given to us." 

And Peter, bishop of Alexandria, a.d. 300, says : " We 
keep the Lord's Day as a day of joy, because of him who 
rose thereon, and we have been taught not to kneel in 
prayer on that day." 

In view of this testimony, which is only a part of what 
might be rehearsed, we can say with Dr. Hessey : " The 
Lord's Day existed during these two centuries as a part 
and parcel of apostolical, and so of Scriptural Christianity. 
It was never defended, for it was never impugned, or at 
least, only impugned as other things received from the 
apostles were. It was never confounded with the Sabbath, 
but carefully distinguished from it. Eeligiously regarded, 
it was a day of solemn meeting for the holy eucharist, for 
united prayer, for instruction, for almsgiving." And it 



THE LORD'S DAY. 285 

may be added that none of these writers appeal to the 
fourth command in support of the Lord's Day, while some 
of them denounce keeping the Sabbath-day as Judaism. 
Moreover, there seem to have been after the time of the 
apostles some converted Jews who observed both the 
Sabbath and the Lord's Day, — a pretty sure indication that 
neither they nor the Christians generally looked upon the 
Lord's Day as being properly a substitute for the Sabbath, 
taking its place as a legal institute. 

Against this view of the belief and practice of the sub- 
apostolic churches, the Sabbatarians appeal to the Sunday 
law of Constantine as a sufficient reason for the observ- 
ance of the first day of the week in later times. That 
law was given in March a.d. 321, and read as follows : 
" Let all judges and city people, and all kinds of artisans, 
rest on the venerable day of the sun. Yet those living in 
the country may freely and lawfully attend to the culti- 
vation of the fields ; because it often happens that grain 
cannot be so fitly committed to the furrows, or vines to 
the trenches on any other day " (Cod. Justin, iii. tit. 12, 
1. 3). A second law was issued in June of the same year, 
providing that " all should have liberty to emancipate or 
manumit slaves on that festal day " (Cod. Justin, ii. tit. 8, 
1. 1). Gieseler conjectures that, " as Christ was often com- 
pared with Sol or Apollo, Constantine may have expected 
to find in the festival of the Sun, as a festival of Christ 
and the Sun, a friendly point of contact for both antago- 
nistic parties." There may be something in this conjec- 
ture, if the observance of the first day of the week was 
customary with Christians. But not otherwise. For it 
is unreasonable to think that Constantine would have 
risked forfeiting the good-will of Christians by changing 
their day of worship from Saturday to Sunday. Besides, 



286 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

" day of the sun" was the proper name of the first day of 
the week at that time, and it may have been called 
" venerable " by the Emperor, not because of its connec- 
tion with idolatry, but because of its Christian use. And 
he certainly may have intended to befriend Christians by 
making Sunday a dies non in civil and business affairs, 
with only such exceptions as charity seemed to require. 

We have now shown, by evidence drawn from the 
New Testament, that the Lord's Day was observed by 
the apostles and primitive churches as a stated time for 
religious worship and joy ; and by evidence, drawn from 
the writings of the early Fathers, that it was observed in 
the same way by Christians down to the year A. D. 300. 
It seems, therefore, unreasonable to doubt its divine origin, 
or our duty to keep it holy. For there is really nothing 
to counterbalance the evidence adduced. Everything looks 
one way, unless it be a single passage in the Epistle to 
the Eomans, pronouncing every day alike ; and I think it 
will appear in the sequel that Paul's language is perfectly 
consistent with the conclusion now reached. But another 
step may be taken without fear, and our duty to keep the 
Lord's Day holy inferred — 

III. From the fourth command of the Decalogue, which 
required the children of Israel to keep the seventh day 
of the week holy. This proposition, it will be observed, 
rests upon no questionable view of the fourth command. 
For it merely assumes that the Israelites were under 
obligation to obey it, and this no believer in the divine 
truth of the Scriptures will deny. Many have inferred 
from the place assigned to this command among the ten 
words written by the finger of God on tables of stone, 
that it is essentially moral, and consequently universal. 
To associate it with precepts which cannot be changed, 



THE LORD'S DAY. 287 

and to write it in stone, as if it were to endure through 
all time, must surely have been meant to signify that it 
was part of an immutable code. There is considerable 
force in this reasoning; but the view asserted by it is 
encumbered with some difficulties ; and whether correct 
or incorrect, we are not about to use it in laying a foun- 
dation for the duty of observing the Lord's Day. Yet the 
place which was assigned to the fourth command in the 
Mosaic law, the beneficent ends which the Sabbath was 
meant to serve among the Jews, and the declaration of 
Christ that it was ordained for the good of man, very 
nearly prove that all men need a similar day, and thus 
strengthen our confidence in the interpretation which we 
have given to apostolic example. 

But there are Christians who insist that the fourth 
command was universal as well as national, that it has 
never been repealed, and that all men are now under 
obligation to obey it by keeping the seventh day of the 
week holy. If this opinion be correct, we cannot appeal 
to the fourth command as justifying our view of apostolic 
example ; for that command, as explained by the brethren 
in question, provides for the keeping of only one day in 
the week, and that one day is the seventh, not the first. 
We deem it proper, therefore, to state several reasons for 
believing that Christians are not under obligation to keep 
the seventh day of the week as a Sabbath to the Lord, 
but rather the first day instead. 

The first reason is taken from the greater significance 
of the first day of the week to Christian faith, and its 
greater fitness on that account to be employed as a set 
time for Christian worship. We are warranted in making 
an inference from this premise by the language of Christ 
declaring that the Sabbath was made for man, and not 



288 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

man for the Sabbath. In perfect harmony with this 
saying, God selected as a day of rest and worship for the 
Israelites, that day of the week which commemorated, 
first, his own rest after creation ; and secondly, the deliv- 
erance of his chosen people from their house of bondage. 
It was more fruitful of holy thoughts and motives to the 
children of Israel than any other day of the seven. To 
them it was the pearl of days, bringing to mind the 
greatest events in the past, and awakening in their souls 
the most reverent and thankful emotions. And for just 
this reason it was singled out and set apart as holy to the 
Lord. On the same principle, however, another day must 
have been selected for Christian worship. Tor Christi- 
anity is a remedial dispensation. Christ Jesus came into 
the world to save sinners. The covenant of works has 
given place to the covenant of grace, and the glory of 
creation has been surpassed by the glory of redemption. 
But by the providence of God the great day of completion, 
of triumph, of hope, and of joy to Christians, is the first 
day of the week instead of the last. To them this must 
be the brightest day of all the seven, having very much 
the same relation to the work of redemption which the 
seventh day had borne to the work of creation. For on 
it Christ rose from the dead, and was declared the Son of 
God with power, by his victory over death. Now as the 
soul is of more consequence than the body, and the 
spiritual uses of a holy day of more importance than its 
physiological service, moreover, as Sunday has spiritual 
associations more precious, inspiring, and improving than 
any other day, we find in these a strong reason for be- 
lieving that Sunday has been made by the divine will 
the regular time for religious worship among Christians. 
Were the evidence showing that the apostles kept the 



THE LORD'S DAY. 289 

Jewish Sabbath in obedience to the fourth command equal 
to the evidence that they kept the first day of the week 
holy, we should regard the greater fitness of the latter for 
Christian worship as sufficient to warrant our observing it 
instead of the former. 

A second reason may be taken from the example of the 
apostles and early churches. For these do certainly appear 
to have held their meetings for distinctively Christian 
worship on the Lord's Day, and not on the Sabbath. It is 
indeed true that the apostles availed themselves of every 
favorable opportunity to preach the gospel to their brethren 
according to the flesh, and that for this purpose they re- 
sorted to the synagogues on the Sabbath days ; but there 
is no evidence that they chose this day for the breaking of 
bread or any other distinctively Christian service. Yet they 
would naturally have done this, and traces of their practice 
would have come down to us, if they had regarded the fourth 
command as still requiring them to keep the Sabbath. 

A third reason may be taken from the language of 
Paul. For this inspired teacher, writing to the Galatians, 
who were already half persuaded by false brethren to 
adopt Judaism with Christianity, says : " But now after 
having known God, or rather, having been known by 
God, how is it that ye turn back again to the weak and 
beggarly rudiments, to which ye desire to be in bondage 
again anew ? Do ye carefully observe days, and months, 
and times, and years ? I am afraid of you, lest by any 
means I have bestowed labor upon you in vain." Of the 
sacred days which the Jews were required by their law 
to keep, none were more important than the weekly Sab- 
bath ; and if this had not been included by the apostle 
in the " days " referred to, it seems to us that he would 
have perceived the necessity of separating it from the 

19 



290 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

rest, and ratifying its observance as a Christian institu- 
tion. But this he does not do by the faintest suggestion. 
Again, writing to the Colossians, he says, "Let no one, 
therefore, judge you in food, or in drink, or in respect of 
a feast-day, or of a new moon, or of a Sabbath-day ; which 
are a shadow of the things to come, but the body is of 
Christ:' We are ignorant of any authority for thinking 
that the word "Sabbath" does not here mean the seventh 
day of the week as set apart for rest and worship by the 
fourth command ; and if it does mean the weekly Sabbath, 
the words of the apostle prove that Christians are under 
no more obligation to observe the seventh day of the 
week, than they are to observe a new moon or a Jewish 
festival. 1 And finally, in his letter to the Roman Chris- 
tians, he says : " One man esteemeth one day above an- 
other; another esteemeth every day. Let each one be 
fully persuaded in his own mind." From the connection 
in which this passage is found, we believe that Paul had 
in mind two classes of Christians, — namely, converted 
Jews and converted Gentiles. To the weak faith and 
scrupulous conscience of the former he was willing to 
concede the observance of such times as had been set 

1 Having translated <ra.fifSoi.Twv, a " sabbath-day," a few words justifying 
this translation may be in place. Canon Lightfoot presents the evidence 
clearly : " <ra£/3aT&>i/, ' a sabbath-day/ not, as the authorized version, ' sab- 
bath days;' for the co-ordinated words, 'a feast-day ' and 'a new-moon,' 
are in the singular. The word crdfifiaTa is derived from the Aramaic (as 
distinguished from the Hebrew) from KH3K/, and accordingly preserves 
the Aramaic termination in a. Hence it was naturally declined as a plural 
noun. crdfifiaTa, aafSfSdrccv. The general use of adfifiaTa, when a single 
sabbath-day was meant, will appear from such passages as Josephus. 
Antiq. I. 1. 1., dyo/xev t))v rj/xtpav, irporayopevovTes avT$)v crdfifiaTa, — ' We 
celebrate the day, calling it sabbath.' III. 11, 1. : e£ 86 wv y\^pav. fym 
crdfifiaTa KaKeirai, — ' The seventh day, which is called sabbath.' In the 
NeAV Testament adft&aTa is only once used distinctly of more than a single 
day, and there the plurality of meaning is brought out by the attached 
numeral ; Acts xvii. 2, — ' three sabbatbs.' " 



THE LORD'S DAY. 291 

apart for religious use by the Mosaic law, but this observ- 
ance was not to be required of the latter. In other words, 
Christians are not under obligation to keep as holy any 
day mentioned in the Jewish law ; yet those who have 
been nurtured in Judaism, and still feel it their duty 
to keep the law, are not to be rejected on that account. 
The language of Paul is, no doubt, capable of a wider 
application, if the words quoted are taken entirely by 
themselves and treated as a complete statement ; but the 
topic of the chapter in which they occur, and the obvious 
scope of other passages referring to the same subject, lead 
one to limit their application to days made sacred by the 
Mosaic law. 

For these reasons we are satisfied that those are in 
error who believe it to be their duty to keep the seventh 
day of the week in obedience to the fourth command of 
the Decalogue. 

But though it may be certain that the fourth command 
is no proper authority for keeping Saturday instead of 
Sunday, and though it may be doubtful whether the 
place assigned to this command on the tables of stone 
proves it to be in substance universal and unchangeable, 
it has a moral kernel, and the same wisdom which re- 
quired the children of Israel to give one day in every 
week to religious worship requires us to do the same. 
That the spiritual nature of man cannot receive proper 
culture without the assistance of fixed times consecrated 
to religion, and breaking the strong currents of business, 
is an almost self-evident truth ; and the law which re- 
vealed this truth to the chosen people, fixing the propor- 
tion between secular toil and sacred rest, and prescribing 
how often the two should succeed each other, deserves a 
place among the great rules of life which lie at the foun- 



292 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

dation of national virtue. There is strong reason to sup- 
pose that an institution which was conducive to the 
highest welfare of men before the coming of Christ, must 
be conducive to the same end after his coming, especially 
if this institution seems adapted to the very nature of man 
in every land and in every age. 

But was not the Sabbath so unlike the Lord's Day as 
to nullify the force of any reasoning from one to the 
other ? Was not the former a period of rest from^ toil 
with but a secondary reference to worship, while the 
latter is ,a period of Christian worship with but a sec- 
ondary reference to bodily rest ? The two days may 
differ somewhat, and in the direction suggested by these 
questions ; for the name " Sabbath," meaning rest, must 
have kept that idea in the foreground among the Jews ; 
but if the Sabbath be judged by the provisions of the 
Mosaic law, by the language of the prophets concerning 
it, and by the view of its purpose which the words and 
acts of Christ reveal, it will be seen to resemble the 
Lord's Day far more closely than has been sometimes 
supposed. Thus judged it will appear to have been a 
day for special religious service, for deeds of mercy to the 
suffering, and for rest from common labor. And by what 
better terms can one describe a Christian observance of 
the Lord's Day ? If we answer, By none, then it follows 
that the value of such a day to the children of Israel is 
good presumptive evidence of its value to all mankind, 
and the fact that it was given by the Most High to them 
strengthens the proof already brought forward that a 
similar institution was committed to Christians. 

Some would add to this the word of God to Ezekiel, 
when the latter was permitted to see in vision an ideal 
temple and service. For the Lord said to him concern- 



THE LORD'S DAY. 293 

ing the priests of that ideal temple : " They shall keep 
my laws and my statutes in all mine assemblies; and 
they shall hallow my Sabbaths." But the vision is 
plainly symbolical and typical, and we cannot be very 
certain in what respects, or how exactly, the symbols 
agree with the realities suggested by them. Yet it 
would not be going very far to say that the words, 
" They shall hallow my Sabbaths," indicate that there 
were to be set times of public worship under the Mes- 
siah's reign, to which, in frequency and purpose, the 
Jewish Sabbaths were analogous. Hence, without pass- 
ing beyond the limits of very cautious interpretation and 
inference, we may affirm that the divine ordination of 
the Sabbath for the Jews, and the prophetic language 
borrowed from that institution, render the setting apart 
of one day in the week to religious worship under the 
new dispensation antecedently probable, and by so much 
tend to confirm our view of the apostles' example as one 
which imposes on us the duty of keeping the Lord's 
Day, 

Again, our duty to keep the Lord's Day holy may be 
inferred — 

IV. From the original sanctification of the seventh day. 
The passage on which this statement rests is thus trans- 
lated by Dr. Conant. " And on the seventh day God 
ended his work which he made ; and he rested on the 
seventh day from all his w T ork which he made. And God 
blessed the seventh day and hallowed it, because on it he 
rested from all his work, which God created in making 
it " (Gen. ii. 2, 3). Some have asserted that this conse- 
cration of the seventh day, though made in the mind of 
God at the close of his creative work, was never revealed 
to mankind until the law was given to Moses. But there 



294 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

are serious objections to this theory. For, in the first 
place, if there be any significance to the words, "God 
blessed the seventh day and hallowed it," they must 
refer to something more than a thought in the mind of 
God. Christ distinctly says that the Sabbath was made 
for man, or in other words, the day was set apart to be a 
season of sacred rest for the benefit of man. But how 
could the consecration of it benefit man, unless it were 
made known to him ? It is difficult to assign any intelli- 
gible reason for God's hallowing this day, — a day insti- 
tuted for the good of man, — and setting it apart to 
religious uses at the very » beginning of human history, 
if he did not reveal it to Adam. Besides, in this part of 
the narrative Moses is describing, not the eternal purpose 
of God, but his action in nature and history. The only 
verse which seems to carry the reader's mind back of the 
act to the purpose is Gen. i. 26, where God is represented 
as saying : " We will make man in our image, after our 
likeness ; " but the next verse declares the act of crea- 
tion : " And God created the man in his image." In the 
verse before us Moses simply relates what God did, not 
what he said or purposed, and the only natural way of 
interpreting his language is to suppose that God made 
the seventh day holy to man and gave to it its function 
as a memorial and sacred day on which men should rest 
from their labor and rejoice with God. This, at least, 
seems to us the only natural exposition of the words. 

In the second place, there are hints or evidences of a 
weekly division of time, before the giving of the law, 
which are best accounted for by supposing that the con- 
secration of the Sabbath was revealed to Adam. These 
intimations are not, to be sure, very frequent in the book 
of Genesis, but they are, perhaps, as frequent as the 



THE LORD'S DAY. 295 

extreme brevity of the narrative would permit. It is 
not easy to give a very full history of mankind during 
twenty-five hundred years in a few chapters, and we 
ought, therefore, to feel no disappointment, if some things 
which seem to us quite important are passed without 
notice, or with only a casual remark. In Gen. viii. 10, 
the sacred writer says that Noah "waited yet another 
seven days, and again he sent forth the dove from the 
ark ; " and this expression, " yet another seven days," 
shows that after sending forth the raven, he waited seven 
days before sending out the dove the first time, so that 
two periods of seven days each are signified by this sim- 
ple statement. Then also in the twelfth verse, it is said 
again, that Noah " waited yet another seven days, and 
sent forth the dove ; and she returned to him no more." 
A further recognition of the weekly division of time 
appears in the history of Jacob. Deceived by Laban and 
Leah, he remonstrates, and Laban answers, " It must not 
be so done in our place, to give the younger before the 
first-born. Complete this one's week, and we will give 
thee this one also, for the service which thou shalt serve 
with me yet seven other years. And Jacob did so, and 
completed her week ; and he gave him Eachel, his 
daughter, for his wife." The reckoning of time by weeks 
must therefore have been common among the patriarchs, 
and probably with all the descendants of Shem. 

This inference is confirmed by extra-biblical evidence. 
For example, in the Assyrian story of the Flood discovered 
on tablets of clay by Mr. George Smith and others, there 
are several references to the number seven as applied to 
days. Thus " Six days and nights passed, the wind, 
tempest, and storm overwhelmed ; on the seventh day 
in its course was calmed the storm and all the tempest." 



296 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

Again, " The mountains of Nizir stopped the ship. The 
first day, and the second day, the third day, and the 
fourth day, the fifth day, and the sixth day, the moun- 
tain of Nizir the same. On the seventh day, I sent forth 
a dove, and it left. The dove went and searched, and a 
resting-place it did not find, and it returned." Again, " I 
built an altar on the peaks of the mountain, herbs I cut 
by sevens. At the bottom of them I placed reeds, pines, 
and simgar." 

In his " Handbuch of Mathematical and Technical 
Chronology," Dr. Ideler states (i. 87 sq.) that " we meet 
the division of time into weeks of seven days in the most 
different regions of the earth ; for example, among the 
Chinese and the old Peruvians ; it must therefore, be 
grounded in nature itself. It is of high antiquity, for it 
is mentioned in the second chapter of Genesis. Yet it 
appears to have been not peculiar to the Hebrews, but 
common to all the Shemitic peoples. It was certainly 
in use already among the Arabians before the age of 
Mohammed, and from the East it spread gradually with 
the Christian religion over the West." Dr. Ideler is a 
very high authority ; but I observe that Prescott is in 
doubt about the Peruvian week, whether it consisted of 
seven, nine, or ten days (i. 126) ; while, after Sir Stam- 
ford Raffles, he admits that the people of Java had, be- 
sides a market week of five days, a week of seven days, 
and he adds that this latter " division of time, of general 
use throughout the East, is the oldest existing monument 
of astronomical science" (Conq. of Mex. i. 111). 

Now the division of time into periods of seven days 
each, by so large a part of mankind, is fully explained, 
if the consecration of the seventh day was made known 
to Adam at the beginning of human history ; but if it was 



THE LORD'S DAY. 297 

not, if it remained a secret with the Almighty, that divis- 
ion of time is at least surprising. For it is by no means a 
natural and obvious division, like that of day, or month, 
or year, or even the four seasons of the year. 

And in the third place, the sacreduess of the number 
" seven " is accounted for by the most obvious interpreta- 
tion of our passage, that is, by supposing it to teach that 
the seventh day was set apart, actually and by revelation, 
in the beginning of human history, as a day of rest and 
devotion. It is scarcely necessary for me to adduce 
proof of the fact that the number " seven " was deemed 
sacred by the Jews and by many other nations. The 
Scriptures abound with evidences of this fact ; and we 
may take it for granted in the present discussion. Xo 
one can suggest so full an explanation of this fact as is 
furnished incidentally, by the passage under examination. 
That passage is a key which fits the lock, and makes the 
whole matter plain. It shows, for example, why Xoah 
was to take to himself in the ark, of all clean cattle, seven 
each, a male and his mate, and why the number seven 
played so prominent a part in the tabernacle and worship 
of the Israelites, and finally in the book of Revelation. 

But in reply to all this, it is said, that the Sabbath 
could not have been given to man at the beginning, 
since it is spoken of as a new institution in the sixteenth 
chapter of Exodus. Our answer to this objection may be 
given in the words of Dr. Conant, who, after citing the 
verses which are believed to sustain it, says : " This has 
not the appearance of a new institution, but rather of 
an ancient one that had fallen into disuse, as must have 
been the case with the Hebrews during their long bond- 
age in Egypt ; for they certainly would not be allowed 
to claim exemption, one day in seven, from the toil im- 



298 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

posed oy their task-masters. A fit opportunity was 
chosen for reviving its observance, namely, one which 
would signalize its weekly return, by withholding on 
that day the usual supply of bread." 

For these reasons, then, we are satisfied that God did 
set apart one day in seven for religious worship, in the 
beginning. It may, therefore, be affirmed that the Sab- 
bath was ordained for the good of man, that is, of the 
human race, and that one day of every week, to wit, the 
day which is on the whole most suggestive of God and 
his grace, should be observed as a period of rest from 
worldly business, and of devotion to the higher interests 
of the soul by communion with God. Since the resurrec- 
tion of Christ, this day can be no other than Sunday. 

Once more, our duty to keep the Lord's Day may be 
inferred — 

V. From its good influence upon the whole nature of 
man, physical, mental, and religious. Monsieur Proud- 
hon, a French socialist, in a little treatise on the cele- 
bration of Sunday, maintains that the hebdomadal 
division of time is based on "that particular ratio of 
labor to rest which is better adapted to the average 
human constitution and the collective necessities of 
human life than any other," and conjectures that Moses 
might have had access to " a science of sciences, a tran- 
scendent harmony, if one may give it a name." " The 
certainty of this science," he continues, " is demonstrated 
by the fact which now engages our attention. Diminish 
the week by a single day, and labor is too little as com- 
pared with rest ; increase it by an equal period, and labor 
becomes excessive. Establish a relaxation for half a day 
once in three days, and you increase the loss of time by 
breaking up the day, while you destroy also the natural 



THE LORD'S DAY. 299 

unity of the day, and disturb the numerical equilibrium 
which everywhere prevails. On the contrary, give 
fourteen hours to repose after twelve consecutive hours 
of labor, and you kill man by inaction after having 
exhausted him by fatigue. For the sake of brevity, I 
omit a multitude of similar considerations which would 
be suggested by the many inconveniences and disturbed 
relations of family and city growing out of such a change. 
How then did Moses comprehend this matter so well? 
He did not invent the week, but he was, I believe, the 
first and the only one who availed himself of it for so 
important a use. Would he have adopted this proposi- 
tion, if he had not calculated beforehand the whole bear- 
ing of it ? Nay, if this was not in his case the result of 
a science, how are we to explain so marvellous an intui- 
tion ? Finally, as to supposing that chance alone thus 
favored him, I would sooner believe that a special revela- 
tion had been made to him, or, in the fable, that a sow 
wrote the Iliad with her snout." 

Consider also a few sentences from an article written 
by Henry Rogers. "A very little reflection will show 
that there must be an absolute best in relation to the 
entire conditions of this social problem, though it may, 
and indeed must, transcend the wisdom of man to find 
it. To take the day in one of its aspects only, that of 
general rest from toil, of suspension of all the ordinary 
occupations of life ; though we know from experience, 
and it is confessed by the practice of the world in gen- 
eral, that such periodic intermission is necessary, it is a 
very different thing to know how often it should recur, 
so as best to answer all the purposes contemplated, and 
without doing either more or less. And yet it is obvious 
that, in relation to the actual average capacities of man 



300 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

for labor — the average powers of the human constitution 
— there must be some ratio of labor to rest which will 
best comport with the material as well as all the other 
interests of the community ; best conciliate the welfare 
of the individual with all the conditions of social pros- 
perity ; in a word, secure the maximum of good of all 
kinds with the minimum of counterbalancing evil. This 
point is too difficult for us to assign ; and yet there cer- 
tainly must be such a point." The inference which Mr. 
Rogers would draw from this course of thought is, that 
the ratio of one day in seven, recognized by the fourth 
command, is the point too difficult for man to discover, 
and therefore revealed to him by a benevolent Creator. 

Without making further extracts from men who have 
given to this subject special study, we offer a few remarks 
embracing the substance of our belief. 1. Days of rest 
from bodily labor, and days separated by the same inter- 
val of time, are necessary to the physical well-being of 
men. This is now generally admitted by those who have 
investigated the subject with much care, and by none 
more freely than by some who would make the Lord's 
Day a mere holiday, — given up to recreation without 
devotion. 2. Days of rest from customary thought are 
necessary in order to mental vigor and elasticity. This 
is also conceded by nearly all persons whose opinion is 
entitled to consideration. The mind cannot be applied 
with the best effect to business, or investigation, or com- 
position, unless it has frequent and regular intervals of 
relief. It does not need perfect rest from action, but 
change, variety, diversion into other lines of thought. 
3. Days of rest from customary toil, whether manual 
or mental, are also necessary in order to religious health 
and progress. Truth cannot be apprehended and appro- 



THE LORD'S DAY. 301 

priated without giving something more than irregular 
and momentary attention to it. Periods of time often 
recurring must be consecrated to religion, or the currents 
of divine life will be shallow and sluggish. This, too, is 
admitted by almost every one who has a right to be 
heard on the point. There are, indeed, differences of 
opinion as to the grounds of our duty to keep the Lord's 
Day, and as to the manner of spending some parts of it ; 
but devout Christians are agreed in believing that the 
day ought to be observed for the benefit of our spiritual 
nature. 4. Certain days must be singled out by some 
high authority, or distinguished by some marked pecu- 
liarity and fitness, in order to secure their observance by 
the people. For a moment's reflection will convince any 
man that the people will never rest from their business 
a definite part of the time, say one-seventh or one-tenth 
of it, unless they fix on the same day for rest. Only a 
sense of duty, reinforced by the power of common exam- 
ple, will suffice to keep men regular in this matter, con- 
straining them to interrupt the effort to get gain, as often 
as their highest good requires. This point is of the first 
importance, and must be thoroughly considered by every 
one who would understand the question. 5. The reasons 
for believing that one day in seven is the best general 
ratio of rest to labor are, on the whole, convincing, even 
without appealing to the Word of God. At one period 
the French people, crazed by their hostility to the Chris- 
tian religion, and influenced by their love of decimals, 
fixed upon one day in ten as a more desirable ratio, but 
their wisdom is now admitted to have been folly. Yet 
it may be conceded to one who is in doubt, that the 
reasons referred to are by no means demonstrative. A 
perfect solution of the problem by the unassisted powers 



302 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

of man would require the most accurate and long-con- 
tinued observation of human society in all lands and 
forms : but a solution worthy of confidence as a guide to 
life may be reached by a far less extended course of ob- 
servation, and such a solution, provisional if not ultimate, 
has been already obtained. Indeed, it is hard to believe 
that any unprejudiced mind, acquainted with such facts as 
have been ascertained, can entertain a serious doubt on 
the point. If there be any periodic rest in addition to 
that of the night, and having a beneficent influence upon 
the whole nature of man, it will be hebdomadal, and, in 
Christian countries at least, if the people are governed by 
reason, it will be on the first day of the week, — a day 
which is certain to be observed by the friends of Christ, 
and which unites in itself all the advantages that can 
ever be expected to distinguish a time for rest and 
worship. 

In proof of our duty to observe the Lord's Day, we 
have appealed : To evidence which the New Testament 
affords that this day was observed by the apostles and 
primitive Christians ; to evidence which the early Chris- 
tian writers afford that this day was observed from the 
first age onward as sacred ; to the fourth command of 
the Decalogue, which required the children of Israel to 
keep the seventh day of the week holy, and proved that 
one day of sacred rest in seven is conducive to the wel- 
fare of man ; to the original sanctification of the seventh 
day, which proved the same thing with equal or greater 
clearness ; and to the good influence of the Lord's Day 
properly kept, on the whole nature of man, — physical, 
mental, and moral. In view of these considerations, we 
feel not the slightest doubt that we are obeying the 
Lord's will in keeping the Lord's Day. 



THE LORD'S DAY. 303 

Having ascertained that Christians ought to keep the 
Lord's Day holy, we are prepared to consider how this can 
be done. But the treatment of this part of our theme 
should be broader and more discreet, if possible, than 
what has gone before. For it is more difficult to define 
the process of keeping the Lord's Day aright than it is 
to show that it ought to be kept as in some true sense 
sacred. In other words, the end to be reached is in this 
case more obvious and certain than the way to reach it. 
For when we ask, what ought to be done, and what ought 
not to be done on this day, we are brought at once in full 
view of the waves and eddies, the swift currents and 
whirlpools of modern life. To change the figure, we see 
before us a net-work of civil and social and business 
relations, so far-reaching, complicated, and inseparable, 
that it seems impossible to consider any duty of man by 
itself, or any class of men in distinction from all the rest. 
For all human interests blend ; all varieties of belief are 
in touch ; all kinds of business interact. The needs and 
temptations of every class deserve attention, for the Lord 
is Maker of them all. The farmer, the mechanic, the 
manufacturer, the merchant, the transporter, the miner, 
are here. The employer and the employed, the man in 
office and the man without office, the physician and the 
sick, the preacher and the people, the teacher and his 
pupils, the parent and his children, the crowds in our 
cities, the pioneers of the forest, the sailors on the ocean, 
the travellers and explorers, are linked together by a 
thousand ties, and must be considered in their relations 
to one another, while we answer the question, How should 
the Lord's Day be kept by men living at the close of the 
nineteenth century ? 

But however difficult the task of answering this ques- 



304 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

tion may at first sight appear, we are emboldened to 
attempt it. For we may assume, as indexes pointing to 
the right answer, such facts as these: (1) That the Lord's 
Day was made for the highest good of man. (2) That 
the need which man has of physical rest and spiritual 
culture is substantially the same in every age and nation. 

(3) That the Savior's use of the Sabbath points un- 
mistakably to the right way of keeping the Lord's Day. 

(4) That the example of the apostles and early Christians 
points in the same direction. And (5) that the spirit of 
the Christian religion does the same thing. Besides, the 
duty of keeping the day compels us to form some idea of 
the manner in which it ought to be kept. There must 
be somewhere sufficient light to enable us to answer so 
urgent and practical a question. Accordingly we assert 
the following propositions to be true : — 

1. To the Lord's Day belongs pre-eminently the public 
and social worship of God. The benefit of such worship 
to the religious life of Christians, the need of frequent 
and stated times for rendering it, and the duty of sancti- 
fying the first day of the week, unite in establishing this 
proposition. No one who accepts the conclusion reached 
in the former part of our essay will object to the propo- 
sition here made. We do not, however, intend by it to 
say that public worship should be restricted to a single 
day of the week ; but that, if it is assigned to only one 
day in seven, that day should be Sunday, the day on 
which Christ rose from the dead and first appeared to 
his disciples, filling their hearts with gladness. 

Nor do we intend to say that the whole of Sunday 
should be given to public and social worship. The Word 
of God nowhere speaks to this point, and the nature of 
spiritual life furnishes no clue to the exact amount of 



THE LORD'S DAY. 305 

time which ought to be used in this way. It must be 
left to the judgment and heart of those who love the 
Lord. But in ordinary circumstances a minor part of the 
full day may be sufficient. Some of it belongs to secret 
devotion, some of it to the study of God's Holy Word, 
some of it to the family, and some of it to personal 
effort for the salvation of men who never go to the house 
of God. 

But what is embraced in " public and social worship " ? 
The expression is meant to include all worship, except 
that of the closet or the family, whether there is preach- 
ing or not, whether the people are present or only the 
members of a particular church, and whether the princi- 
pal object of meeting is exhortation and prayer, or 
sacred song and the study of God's Word. The Sun- 
day-School, the Bible class, the praying circle, and the 
great assembly are all embraced in this somewhat elastic 
expression. 

Thus explained, public worship on the Sabbath was 
honored by the presence of Jesus Christ. He met with 
the people in their synagogues, and explained to them 
the meaning and fulfilment of their ancient Scriptures. 
He must have joined with them in prayer and in chant- 
ing the words of David. And when the apostles went to 
the cities of Asia Minor or of Greece, they resorted first 
of all to the synagogues or places of prayer, to unite with 
their brethren in the worship of God, and to preach to 
them the good news of life through Christ. But when it 
was found that most of the Jews scorned their message, 
they turned to the Gentiles, and established churches that 
met for worship on the first day of the week. And from 
that day to this, Christians have been wont to meet to- 
gether for instruction and edification on Sunday, and their 

20 



306 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

experience proves the advantage, if not the necessity of 
so doing, in' order to growth in grace. 

2. To the Lord's Day belong works of love and compas- 
sion. These works include kindness to animals as well 
as to men. The flocks and herds must be protected and 
fed, the cows milked, and the sick cared for. Much more 
must sufferers of human kind be treated with compassion. 
All the poor and weak and aged, the little ones at home, 
and the children of sorrow in the neighborhood, should be 
made to feel that the friends of Christ are ready for every 
good work, and especially for deeds of mercy, on the day 
which commemorates his resurrection. 

" The quality of mercy is not strained, 
It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven 
Upon the place beneath : it is twice blessed : 
It blesseth him that gives and him that takes : 
'T is mightiest in the mightiest ; it becomes 
The throned monarch better than his crown : 
His sceptre shows the force of temporal power, 
The attribute to awe and majesty, 
Wherein doth sit the dread and fear of kings ; 
But mercy is above this sceptred sway ; 
It is enthroned in the heart of kings ; 
It is an attribute to God himself ; 
And earthly power doth then show likest God's, 
When mercy seasons justice." 

Could this passage have been written by one who had 
never heard of Christ ? We do not think it could ; but 
at all events the remembrance of Christ incites his fol- 
lowers to perennial zeal in well-doing. Worshippers of 
idols are made to feel that the holy day of Christians 
is consecrated to the service of man for the love of 
God. 

As we have seen, apostolic wisdom selected the first 
day of the week as the time when Christians of Macedo- 



THE LORD'S DAY. 307 

nia and Achaia were to lay aside what they were able to 
spare from their weekly income, for the poor saints in 
Judea. And no one can forget how often Jesus himself 
healed the sick on the Sabbath, at the risk of sorely 
offending the Jews by his works of mercy. If, then, he 
esteemed it right to do good in this way on the Sabbath, 
which was the Jews' day of worship, we may be certain 
that he wishes his disciples to do good to their suffering 
fellows, on the day set apart to his worship. 

It is worthy of remark also, that all important reforms 
may be considered works of love and compassion. Some 
of them are sacred. To rescue a drunkard from bondage 
to appetite, and his family from want and shame, is a 
work befitting the holiest time and the purest heart. 
Advocates of temperance are therefore entitled to a hear- 
ing on the Lord's Day. And the same may be said of 
numerous reforms less exigent than this : they deserve a 
place among the forces auxiliary to the gospel. Joyful and 
beneficent activity, instead of sluggish repose, should pre- 
vail on the day which reminds us of resurrection and life. 
But in order to this the pressure of business must be 
removed. Hence — 

3. To the Lord's Day belongs rest from secular toil. 
Pursuit of wordly gain should cease. Men should refuse 
to give more than six parts of life out of seven to laying 
up treasures on earth, and during the seventh part should 
account " the life more than meat and the body more than 
raiment." It is doubtless true that they can do a greater 
amount of work with hand or brain in a lifetime, by 
resting from their wonted toil one day in seven, but it is 
not easy to convince them beforehand of the fact. For 
many a man thinks himself an exception to general rules, 
and insists that, at least for the present, the night is 



308 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

enough for rest, and he is able to pursue his calling, year 
in and year out, with no interruption and no loss of vigor. 
But does he not know that by seeking wealth or honor 
with such exclusive devotion, he is bending his soul earth- 
ward, and closing it to all that is highest and best ? Our 
appeal, then, must be to his religious nature, if we wish 
him to accept by his own choice the full blessing of the 
Lord's Day. 

Looking at the matter from a business point of view, 
there are plausible objections to a complete cessation of 
secular work on the Lord's Day. Certain employments, 
which are encouraged by many of the people and excused 
by Christians, may be made profitable. No one doubts 
the propriety of Sunday labor by sailors in charge of a 
ship at sea, if that labor is confined to what is necessary 
for the safety of all on board ; nor does any one call in 
question the conduct of firemen when they endeavor to 
extinguish the flames of a burning house, or, if that be 
impossible, to save the inhabitants and their goods. Such 
work is felt to be strictly exceptional ; it could not have 
been done before, and it cannot be postponed. Let it be 
done in time of need. 

A similar reason is sometimes offered by farmers for 
occasional work on Sunday. Their crops are now and 
then in danger of being spoiled, unless they are secured 
at once, and they deem it a reckless waste of property not 
to " make hay when the sun shines." But the case is 
not perfectly clear. For it is found safe by many far- 
mers to rest on the Lord's Day, though their crops are 
sometimes injured by delay in getting them in. Habitual 
foresight in selecting their time for mowing and reaping 
enables them to save, in the long run, as much as others 
save by occasional work on Sunday ; and at the end of 



THE LORD'S DAY. 309 

twenty years they have harvested no less grain than their 
freer neighbors. 

Bnt whatever may be said in defence of occasional Sun- 
day labor in time of harvest, there are no such reasons for 
the publication of Sunday newspapers or the running of 
Sunday trains ; nor are there similar reasons for opening 
public libraries, museums, and art galleries, or providing 
Sunday excursions on land or water ; still less are there 
equal reasons for the Continental custom of holding state 
receptions, military reviews, and general elections on that 
day. No Christian can observe without anxiety the in- 
creasing secularization of the Lord's Day, -r- the tendency 
to keep open every public resort, and especially the saloon, 
so that by such kinds of traffic as minister to appetite and 
self-indulgence, the worship of Mammon may be contin- 
ued through all the week, and indeed most effectively in 
that part of it which is consecrated to the highest weal 
of man. 

In favor of Sunday papers, it is argued, that they fur- 
nish the people needed instruction, that they are read by 
those who do not attend public worship, that they occupy 
the minds of many who read nothing else, that they gra- 
tify a mental habit and taste formed by the daily press, 
and that they cost no more Sunday work than is put into 
the early Monday papers. But in reply to these state- 
ments it may be affirmed, that six days out of seven is 
enough for the kind of instruction furnished by secular 
papers ; that reading these papers often takes time which 
would otherwise be given to public worship ; that the habit 
of reading nothing but newspapers ought to be broken as 
often as once a week ; that the Sunday work on Monday 
papers may itself be wrong, and that, if right, it by no 
means proves that twice as much labor would be right 



310 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

Yet this amount would be necessary, in order to provide 
for the Sunday issue without omitting that of Monday. 

More plausible arguments are alleged in favor of rail- 
road trains on the Lord's Day. They are called for by 
residents in suburban towns, as the cheapest conveyance 
to their favorite places of worship. They are sought by 
dairy-men for the transportation of milk to customers in 
the city. They are asked to carry the mail and the sick 
over long routes through all the land, on the plea of ne- 
cessity or mercy. Compassion to animals on their way to 
slaughter, is made a reason why the heavy train should 
be pushed steadily on to its destination. And even an 
abundant harvest, which brings the railroads more freight 
than they can handle, becomes an excuse ' for treating 
Sunday as any other day. Thus to thousands and tens 
of thousands a much needed period of rest is lost. Brain 
and hand are overtaxed and prematurely worn out. We 
have nothing but praise for works of mercy or necessity 
at any time. We can prescribe no rules or routine of 
action by which men can perfectly keep the Lord's Day. 
It was meant to be a boon to mankind, and love to God 
and men will do more than anything else to guide one 
to the right use of it. But this love must not be short- 
sighted or impatient : it must have regard to the soul as 
well as to the body and to eternity as well as to time. 

Looking at the Sunday use of railroads from this point 
of view, we are constrained to believe that suburban Chris- 
tians wrong both themselves and their Lord by going to 
church in the city, when there are churches of their own 
faith near where they dwell. As a rule to which there 
are but few exceptions, they might be more useful if they 
would work and worship with their neighbors, than they 
can be by worshipping in the city. And by ceasing to do 



THE LORD'S DAY. 311 

the latter many of the suburban trains, as we are credibly 
informed, would soon be discontinued for want of patro- 
nage. If this be the case, the responsibility of Christians 
is very great, for they inflict a double injury on the em- 
ploye's of the roads, by depriving them on the one hand 
of needed physical rest, and on the other of the higher 
blessing of social worship. 

The second reason for Sunday trains, namely, the trans- 
port of milk to customers in the city, cannot be so easily 
set aside. Yet if there were a deep conviction in the 
hearts of the people that secular work on the Lord's Day 
should be reduced to a minimum, both because it is wrong 
and because it is unprofitable, this business would be 
greatly reduced ; one half of the trains would probably 
rest, and the dairy-men would set their milk for cream, 
unless it was required in the city for young children or 
nursing mothers or persons in sickness. To withhold it 
from these would be as inconsistent with the spirit of 
Christ as with the dictates of humanity. But it is probably 
safe to say that one half of those who are employed in 
transporting and distributing milk could be relieved of 
this service on Sunday without loss to the health of the 
people. 

We do not know how many of the through trains could 
be spared without harm to the people. In so far as the 
running of them is a work of mercy, it must be pro- 
nounced right, but in so far as it is done for the sake of 
gain, it is a misuse of the Lord's Day. And the same 
must be said of trains freighted with cattle or sheep. 
Indeed, it may be questioned whether this business ought 
not to be restricted to six days in the week, and the wea- 
ried animals be allowed to have the benefit of rest and 
comparative freedom on the seventh. Nothing prevents 



312 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

this but the greater cost of transportation when such rest 
is given. But would it not contribute much to the health 
and comfort of the animals as well as to the health of 
those who have them in charge ? Without being able to 
prove it, we suspect that greed of gain adopts a short- 
sighted policy whenever it ignores the rest appointed by 
God for man and beast. 

But what must be thought of Sunday excursions on 
land or water, and of opening places of amusement on that 
day ? Their advocates insist that they accomplish one of 
the purposes which the Lord's Day was meant to accom- 
plish ; they interrupt the tug of business and provide rest 
and refreshment to body and mind for many who need 
them. " Half a loaf is better than no bread ; " if men 
will not rejoice in God, let them rejoice in Nature ; if they 
turn away from spiritual good, let them have physical 
good. The ocean has lessons for them ; so has the land- 
scape, and the flower ; and it is wise to make Sunday a 
holiday if you cannot make it a holy day. 

This reasoning is not without force. The people who 
resort to places of amusement find what they seek. Phy- 
sical recreation is gained by many at the cost of labor by 
a few. Bodily health is improved and life itself prolonged. 
But these are not the highest ends contemplated by the 
Father of mercies, in giving men one day in seven for 
Christian joy and service. They are of the earth, and 
they take account of this life only, while the Lord's Day 
is from above and has respect to endless life and peace. 
It is therefore wrong for Christians to encourage any use 
of this day which makes light of its memorial significance 
or defeats its supreme object. Yet who can deny that 
harbor excursions and places of amusement really do this, 
by tempting men to look upon pleasure as the chief end 



THE LORD'S DAY. 313 

of life, and upon earthly good as the one thing desirable ? 
Who, on the other hand, can doubt that the resurrection 
of Christ is primarily suggestive of victory over death, 
and then of a better life for his followers in the endless 
hereafter ? It must, therefore, be the duty of those who 
love him, to use the day which commemorates his en- 
trance on a higher life, in such a manner as to emphasize 
the value of that higher life, and also express their grati- 
tude to him for making it possible. An out and out 
wordly use of the day is therefore reprehensible, though 
secular work ceases. But of course secular work does 
not cease. The kinds of recreation in view are furnished 
for a consideration. They cost labor and are paid for as 
labor. Moreover, it is fair to bear in mind that they 
face towards the saloon, which is a hundred fold more 
dangerous to health and virtue than unceasing attention 
to business. We are therefore constrained to deny that 
the Lord's Day can be properly observed by making it a 
holiday. 

Again, plausible arguments are brought forward in 
favor of opening libraries and museums and art galleries 
on Sunday. Their influence is represented as wholesome 
and refining. They are attractive to many who shun the 
worship of God, and, if they do nothing for religion, they 
do a great deal for mental improvement and good taste. 
Not a few of those who enjoy them have no other recrea- 
tion during the week, and must visit these places on 
Sunday or not all. Moreover, people are often prevented 
by them from visiting places where evil abounds. A 
writer speaks of New York in the following terms : 
" Sunday is a roystering holiday in some of the suburbs, 
where the masses go, not merely for the fresh air of the 
country and a decent promenade, as in European coun- 



314 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

tries, but for a ' good time/ which in this parlance means 
too much beer. Hoboken, for instance, has a host of 
minor theatres and dance-houses, which are open Sunday 
evening." And the same writer is " convinced that the 
Metropolitan Museum would be thronged during all the 
day-light hours of Sunday, if the public could get in on 
that day." There is force in this representation. Visiting 
libraries, museums, and art-galleries is not the worst pos- 
sible use of Sunday. But is it the best ? Is it a truly 
Christian use of the day ? If it keeps some from the 
haunts of vice, does it not keep others from the house of 
God ? And it must not be overlooked, that libraries and 
galleries cannot be opened to the public without attend- 
ants, who are thereby deprived of their day of rest ; nor 
must it be forgotten that the work of many laborers 
closes earlier on Saturday than in any other part of the 
week, for the very purpose of giving them time to draw 
books from the public libraries or in other ways prepare 
for the day of rest. It is also very questionable whether 
any considerable number of the class which frequents 
" small theatres and dance-houses," or drinks " too much 
beer," would be attracted by open libraries, museums, or 
art-galleries. Possibly a few might be saved from de- 
grading pleasures by this influence, but only a few. A 
mightier attraction than that of art-galleries is needed 
to rescue them. 

It is not, then precisely a Puritan Sabbath for which 
we plead, much less is it a Continental Sunday ; but it is 
a day of rest from secular toil for the benefit of the poor 
and the rich, and especially for the quickening and re- 
freshment of their spiritual nature, — a day of reasonable 
quiet and hearty thankfulness, when Heaven shall rain 
its selectest influence on the souls of men. 



THE LORD'S DAY. 315 

One other question deserves an answer, namely : How 
far may the State properly go in requiring the observance 
of Sunday ? For the sake of clearness we present our 
answer to this question in distinct propositions. (1) " That 
for sanitary and moral reasons, a weekly day of rest from 
secular toil should be required by the State." For, in the 
words of Dr. Mark Hopkins, " it is ascertained by ade- 
quate induction, through observations and experiments 
carefully made and long continued, that both men and 
animals will have better health and live longer, will do 
more work and do it better, if they rest one day in seven, 
than if they work continuously. . . . The human consti- 
tution and the constitution of society is so pre-conformed 
to that division and employment of time which the Sab- 
bath contemplates, that neither the end of the individual 
nor of society can be fully reached except through [the 
same]." If, then, we assume that the mental and moral 
stamina of the people, together with their average lon- 
gevity, are dependent on their giving one day in the week 
to rest from ordinary work, and if we also assume that 
the State is charged with the protection of natural life 
and cannot rely upon other means to ensure that rest to 
the people, it may be under obligation to enforce the 
needed cessation of labor, on the same principle as quaran- 
tine regulations are enforced to prevent the spread of dis- 
ease. But in this case the prohibition of ordinary work 
is based on secular, and not on religious grounds, and 
these grounds should be distinctly specified in the law. 
For Dr. Hopkins is certainly right in affirming, " that it 
is not the province of legislation to enforce the Fourth 
Commandment in its Godward aspect, or to promote re- 
ligion directly, but simply to protect men in their rights 
under a great provision made by God for their well-being." 



316 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

(2) " That in a land where most of the people recog- 
nize the authority of Christ, the Lord's Day should be the 
day of rest, since it will be kept by great numbers from a 
sense of religious duty." Proper respect should be paid 
to the religious convictions of the people. If there is 
any one day of the week on which a majority of the peo- 
ple fix their choice by reason of their belief that it is 
chosen by God, and which will therefore be kept by them 
without regard to the civil law, that day should be se- 
lected by rulers as the day of rest for all, or, at least for 
all who do not religiously suspend their business on some 
other day of the week. Men are to be protected in reli- 
gious worship as a natural right ; and the circumstance 
that a majority of the people believe it their duty to wor- 
ship God publicly on the first day of the week, makes it 
wise for legislators to choose that for the rest-day of the 
masses. Yet if one day in seven is all that can properly 
be required of the people for rest, and if some of them 
look upon keeping the last day of the week as a religious 
duty, it would seem that they ought to be allowed the 
privilege of secular labor on the first day of the week, 
provided they do not thereby disturb the worship of 
others. The consciences of Jews and Sabbatarians are 
to be respected, though they are in the minority. 

(3) " That by selecting any other day, the Government 
would discriminate against Christians, who are bound in 
conscience to rest on Sunday, and who could not there- 
fore hold office or perform service for the State if required 
to work on that day." Christian servants of the State 
should never be required to perform secular work on the 
first day of the week, unless it can be shown to their 
satisfaction that such work is essential to the existence 
of the State. Hence, public libraries should not be 



THE LORD'S DAY. 317 

opened on that day, nor the courts be in session, nor any 
ordinary business be transacted ; for the State cannot do 
its work in a Christian land by cutting itself off from the 
service of Christians, or by violating the very freedom 
which it is one of its duties to protect. 

But if a majority of the nation were Jews and Sabba- 
tarians, it would be the duty of legislators to make Sat- 
urday the common day of rest. For the language of 

Roger Williams is not fanatical : " It is the will and com- 
es 

mand of God, that a permission of the most Paganish, 
Jewish, Turkish, or Anti-Christian consciences and wor- 
ships be granted to all men in all nations and countries." 
But does not the State indorse the worship by protecting 
the worshipper ? By no means, not even the idol-wor- 
ship of the joss-houses in San Francisco : it simply per- 
forms its own duty in conserving the freedom of the 
people, leaving with every one of them the responsibility 
of his personal conduct towards God. The words of 
Roger Williams, already quoted, may be illustrated by a 
fuller statement from his pen. "The civil magistrate 
either respecteth that religion and worship which his 
conscience is persuaded is true, and upon which he ven- 
tures his soul, or else that and those which he is per- 
suaded are false. . . . Concerning the first, if that which 
the magistrate believeth to be true, be true, I say he 
owes a threefold duty to it : First, Approbation and coun- 
tenance, a reverent esteem and honorable testimony, ac- 
cording to Isaiah xlix., Revelation xxi., with a tender 
respect of truth and the professors of it. Secondly, Per- 
sonal submission of his own soul to the power of the 
Lord Jesus in that spiritual government and kingdom, 
according to Matthew xviii., 1 Cor. v. Thirdly, Protec- 



318 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

tion of such true professors of Christ, whether apart, or 
met together, as also of their estates, from violence and 
injury, according to Eomans xiii. 

" Now secondly, if it be a false religion (unto which 
the civil magistrate dare not adjoin, yet) he owes : First, 
Permission (for approbation he owes not to what is evil) v 
and this according to Matthew xii. 30, for public peace 
and quiet's sake. Secondly, he owes protection to the 
persons of his subjects (though of a false worship), that 
no injury be offered either to the persons or goods of any. 
Eomans xiii." 

We notice with pleasure the action of the French 
Chamber of Deputies in relation to this point, as re- 
ported by the " Boston Journal," March 7, 1891 : — 

"There was recently a very interesting debate on the 
Sunday labor question in the French Chamber of Deputies, 
in connection with the ' bill for the regulation of the work 
of women and children in factories, ' adopted by the Senate. 
One of the clauses sets forth that young persons under eigh- 
teen and women of all ages should not be employed on more 
than six days a week, thus assuring them a rest of one day. 
M. Freppel and the Comte de Mun brought forward an 
amendment to the effect that Sunday should be the day 
selected in all cases and without any exception. The Bishop 
of Angers argued that as most people rested from their labors 
on the Sunday, the law would, after all, indorse simply what 
custom had already appointed. He said that M. Jules Simon 
and M. Tolain had expressed a similar opinion at the Labor 
Conference at Berlin, and contended that Parliament ought 
not to run counter to the line advocated by the French dele- 
gates. It was maintained, on the other hand, by M. Ricard, 
the president of the committee, that although M. Jules Simon 
had acknowledged the advantages which the choice of one day 
of rest for all would present, he had added that it would be 



THE LORD'S DAY. 319 

difficult to make a hard and fast rule in France. In fact, the 
declaration of the French delegates at Berlin had been quite 
different from what it had been represented by M. Freppel to 
be. Finally the amendment was rejected by 247 votes to 
188, and the clause in question was afterward adopted by a 
large majority." 

It will be observed that the view of the French Cham- 
ber as to what is expedient for the State to require, agrees 
with our position as to what the State can require, with- 
out violating the great principle of liberty in matters of 
religion by its treatment of those who believe they are 
under religious obligation to abstain from secular work 
on some other day of the week than Sunday. But 
the French Chamber of Deputies might have made Sun- 
day the rest-day for all the people (as well as for women 
and children) who do not rest from labor on any other 
day of the week as a religious duty. And such a law 
would probably tend to effect a complete cessation 
of industrial pursuits on the first day of the week. 
But it would not prevent the people from making it 
a holiday. 

The statutes of Massachusetts forbid the people to do 
" any manner of labor, business, or work, except works of 
necessity and charity," or to " be present at any dancing 
or public diversion, show, or entertainment," or to " take 
part in any sport, game, or play," or to " travel, except 
from necessity or charity," on the Lord's Day; but in 
some respects these statutes are not carefully enforced. 
This is specially true of the part which forbids " travel, 
except from necessity or charity," unless we give a very 
large meaning to the word " charity," or a very narrow 
sense to the word " travel." Think of the numbers who 



320 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

crowd the cars running between a large city and the 
suburban towns. Is it not " travel " to go several miles 
to church in cars propelled by steam or electricity, or 
drawn by horses ? Possibly not, in the meaning of the 
statutes. But such transportation is scarcely a work of 
necessity or charity. 



I 



••ON DIVOKCE ACCOKDING TO THE NEW 
TESTAMENT. 

N Matthew xix. 3-9, this narrative may be 
found : — 



"And there came unto him Pharisees, trying him, and 
saying, Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife for every 
cause ? And he answered and said, Have ye not read, that 
he who made them from the beginning made them male and 
female, and said, For this cause shall a man leave his father 
and mother, and shall cleave to his wife; and the twain shall 
become one flesh? So that they are no more twain, but one 
flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man 
put asunder. They say unto him, Why then did Moses com- 
mand to give a bill of divorcement, and to put her away? 
He saith unto them, Moses for your hardness of heart suf- 
fered you to put away your wives : but from the beginning it 
hath not been so. And I say unto you, Whosoever shall put 
away his wife, except for fornication, and shall marry another, 
committeth adultery; and he that marrieth her when she is 
put away committeth adultery/' 

I. According to the teaching of our Lord in this place : 

1. Husband and Wife are One Flesh. — Christ goes back 
to the origin of the human race, and makes his appeal to 
the first and second chapters of Genesis. In the former 
it is said, " So God created man in his own image, in the 
image of God created he him, male and female created 
he them ; " and in the latter, " This is now bone of my 

21 



322 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

bones and flesh of my flesh ; she shall be called Woman, 
because she was taken out of man. Therefore shall a man 
leave his father and his mother and cleave unto his wife, 
and they shall be one flesh." Instead of, " they shall be 
one flesh," the Greek translation, which was in use at 
the time of Christ, had the words " the two shall be one 
flesh ; " and our Saviour adopts this version as expressing 
the mind of God and the sense of the original, adding for 
himself, by way of emphatic repetition, " So that they are 
no longer two, but one flesh." It would have been diffi- 
cult for him to assert in stronger language the unity of 
husband and wife. They are members of each other. 
The union between them is closer than that between 
parents and children. They are not their own but be- 
long to each other, and constitute one conjugal body. 
" He that loveth his wife loveth himself. For no man 
ever yet hated his own flesh ; but nourishes and cherishes 
it, even as the Lord the church." Making all proper al- 
lowance for the rhetorical character of these expressions, 
it is yet manifest that no earthly union is represented 
by the sacred writers as so intimate and indissoluble as 
the one formed by marriage. And it is also manifest 
that this union, though presupposing mutual love and 
sympathy, has respect at the same time to the body, the 
family, and the manifold relations of the present life. 
The word " flesh," so often used to designate the human 
personality, is itself an evidence of this ; for it points 
to the outward, visible, temporal side of our being, and 
prepares us for the doctrine of Christ, that the marriage 
union is forever terminated by death. " In the resurrec- 
tion they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but 
are as the angels of God." It also furnishes, in advance, 
a strong argument against admitting a want of love, of 



DIVORCE IN THE NEW TESTAMENT. 323 

congeniality in temper, or of spiritual affinity, to be a 
valid reason for divorce. Death is the only natural limit 
of a union by which two persons become one flesh. 

2. Marriage is a Divine Institution. — It was God who, 
in the beginning, "made them male and female," and 
united one man with one woman in marriage. This was 
regarded by our Saviour as the model marriage, indicative 
of the divine will. He teaches that the union of our first 
parents in Eden was God's act, and normal for the race 
to the end of time. Especially does he call attention to 
the divine origin of marriage as a reason why man should 
not annul it. "What therefore God hath joined together, 
let not man put asunder." The contrast is here between 
divine authority and human ; man is not to annul the 
ordinance of God. For the word " man " is here used in 
its broad, generic sense, in contrast with the word "God." 
No other explanation of the passage is admissible. It must 
therefore be the duty of legislators to aim at bringing the 
laws of the land on this subject into harmony with the 
principles laid down in the sacred record. 

3. God authorizes Divorce in case of Adultery. — On 
two occasions out of three, in which Jesus condemned 
the Jewish practice as sinful, he excepts the putting 
away of a wife because of fornication. To explain this 
solitary exception, it has been said that "the nuptial tie 
is sundered by the adulterous infidelity of either party," 
that it is " a crime which, by a single act, sunders the 
conjugal tie," and that it "is less & ground of separation 
than separation itself." But there are weighty objections 
to such a theory. For, if conjugal unfaithfulness actually 
sunders the nuptial tie, the innocent party has no right 
to forgive the guilty or permit the union to continue a 
day. Pie-marriage is indispensable, if the parties do not 



324 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

separate. Besides, the language of Christ is a permission 
of divorce because of fornication, which makes this crime 
a sufficient reason for divorce, but not an actual dissolu- 
tion of the marriage union. And, lastly, there are many 
passages of the Old Testament in which God addresses 
his people as an adulterous wife, which he still recognizes 
as his own, and strives to recover from idolatry. Hence, 
it is more correct to say that this crime is one which 
inflicts so deep a wound on the innocent party, and vio- 
lates so utterly the substance of conjugal duty, that it is 
esteemed by God a valid ground for divorce, whenever this 
is sought by the unoffending husband or wife. Adultery is 
a crime for which divorce is a part of the penalty. 

But are there not other crimes which trample on the 
conjugal relation and the nature of marriage as ruthlessly 
as fornication ? And, if so, may they not also be safely 
pronounced valid reasons for divorce ? May it not be 
presumed that Christ mentioned fornication as a specimen 
of the sins which justify the proper authorities in sunder- 
ing the nuptial tie ? In answer to these questions it may 
be said that the crimes referred to in Leviticus xx. 13, 15, 
16 (sodomy and bestiality), are allied to the one named 
by Jesus Christ, and that those guilty of them were sen- 
tenced by the law of Moses to the same punishment, — 
death. Moreover, as rare and monstrous offences, it was 
perhaps less natural or necessary to mention them. Hence 
as fornication includes the crimes of adultery and incest, 
it may possibly be understood to comprehend in the brief 
statement of Christ, the more repulsive and abominable 
offences to which reference has been made. But beyond 
this, it is unsafe to go. The language of Jesus makes a 
definite exception, and just principles of interpretation 
forbid us to treat a definite crime as a mere sample of 



DIVORCE IN THE NEW TESTAMENT. 325 

those which justify divorce. Especially does the manifest 
aim of his language forbid us to associate inferior crimes 
with the one specified by him, pronouncing them also to 
be a warrant for that which he declares to be warranted 
by the higher crime only. 

II. But did not God permit divorce among the Jews 
for other causes than the one named by Christ ? So the 
Pharisees believed. For when Christ had reminded them 
of the original institution and true nature of marriage, 
representing it as the closest possible union of one man 
and one woman for this life, they replied : " Why then did 
Moses command to give her a writing of divorcement and 
put her away ? " And Jesus responded : " Moses, for 
your hardness of heart suffered you to put away your 
wives : but from the beginning it was not so." These 
words cast a flood of light upon the Mosaic economy, and 
upon the divine method of educating and restoring man 
to virtue. The passage referred to by the Pharisees and 
explained by Christ is comprised in the first four verses 
of the twenty-fourth chapter of Deuteronomy. And it 
certainly presupposes the practice of divorce among the 
Jews for other causes than fornication. But it does not 
say a word in commendation of that practice ; it only 
declares that if a husband puts away his wife, and she is 
united in marriage with another man, her former hus- 
band can never take her again to himself. For him at 
least she has been defiled. Practically, therefore, a hus- 
band must look upon his act in giving a bill of divorce 
as irrevocable. Hence, this provision of the law was a 
check on the caprice of man. It compelled him to weigh 
the consequences of his proposed act, and taught him to 
respect the marriage covenant. " Moses suffered you to 
put away your wives ; " he did not command it, did not 



326 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

speak of it as right or necessary or commendable, did not 
encourage or facilitate it in the least ; he merely as- 
sumed the existence of this practice, and, by regulating, 
suffered it. And the reason for not forbidding it was the 
wickedness of the people. They were too gross and stub- 
born to bear the restraint. They would have trampled 
on the prohibition, and by so doing decreased their re- 
spect for the law ; for actual disobedience to any rightful 
authority at one point, weakens the force of that author- 
ity at every point. Hence it is sometimes better for a gov- 
ernment not to forbid an evil practice among the people, 
than to prohibit the practice and allow its law to be 
broken with impunity. Legislation is apt to be useless 
when it is far in advance of the public conscience. Tor 
the language about divorce in the twenty-fourth chapter 
of Deuteronomy must be taken as a part of a civil code, 
to be enforced by the power of the State. As such it was 
adapted to the moral condition of the people. If it for- 
bore to reassert the original law of marriage and divorce, 
it was because the nation would not bear it. And the 
same may possibly be true of many nations at the pres- 
ent day ; the public conscience may be so dull or per- 
verse, and the public depravity so great, as to require 
permission of divorce for more causes than one. But 
any deviation from the divine law, as expounded by 
Christ, can have but one excuse, the wickedness of the 
people: and the force of this excuse, however legitimate 
in the sphere of a government founded on the will of the 
people, should not be suffered to lower the standard of 
morality in the churches of Christ. Nothing can be 
more dangerous to the interests of true religion, than the 
habit of regarding everything as right which is tolerated 
by the laws of the land. No thoughtful man will say 



DIVORCE IN THE NEW TESTAMENT. 327 

that Mormonism or Eornan Catholicism is right, because 
the State is right in tolerating religious opinions such as 
these. The State cannot do everything desirable. The 
standard of life for the servants of Christ must always 
be higher than the standard enforced by the State. 

Such then is the conclusion which we have reached by 
a careful review of Christ's language concerning divorce. 
There is but one valid ground for it in the sight of God, 
namely fornication. Other crimes may justify a separa- 
tion from bed and board, but not a full divorce, author- 
izing another marriage before the death (jf one of the 
parties. 

III. But does not Paul recognize a second ground for 
divorce ? At least, in the case of a Christian who has a 
heathen husband or wife ? Many affirm that he does ; 
and they find the evidence of this in the seventh chapter 
of his first Epistle to the Corinthians. The tenth 
and eleventh verses read : " And unto the married I 
command, — not I, but the Lord, — that a wife depart 
not from her husband: but even if she depart, let her 
remain unmarried, or be reconciled to her husband ; and 
let not a husband put away a wife." The reference here 
is to the duty of husband and wife when both are Chris- 
tians, and it repeats substantially the teaching of Christ. 
In such a case the Lord's authority must be acknowl- 
edged by both parties, and nothing further need be said. 
But the apostle then proceeds as follows : " To the rest 
say I, not the Lord : If any brother has an unbelieving- 
wife, and she also be pleased to dwell with him, let him 
not put her away ; and a wife who has an unbelieving 
husband, and he also be pleased to dwell with her, let 
her not put him away." Thus far the apostle's language, 
though treating of a special case, not mentioned by 



328 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

Christ, is in perfect accord with his teaching. Christi- 
anity pronounces the marriage relation sacred, even when 
one of the parties is an unbeliever, and forbids the 
believing party to disturb that relation. u For the un- 
believing husband is hallowed in the wife, and the unbe- 
lieving wife is hallowed in the brother ; else were your 
children unclean, but now are they holy." That is, the 
relation between husband and wife is as pure and in- 
dissoluble as that between parents and children. Then 
comes the sentence which is supposed to specify a second 
ground for divorce. " But if the unbelieving depart, let 
him depart ; the brother or sister is not enslaved in such 
cases ; but God has called us in peace. For what know- 
est thou, wife, whether thou shalt save thy husband ? 
or what knowest thou, husband, whether thou shalt 
save thy wife ? " 

The case in the apostle's mind appears to have been 
essentially this. A heathen wife becomes a Christian, 
while her husband continues attached to , idolatry, and 
perhaps insists upon her performing with him the rites 
of pagan worship. Thus, at a later period, Bona of Car- 
thage was dragged by her husband to a heathen altar 
and, while others held her hands, was forced to offer 
sacrifice, though protesting that she had no part in the 
act. The condition of such a wife at home was liable to 
be still more trying. The kitchen hearth was conse- 
crated to false gods. Hard by it stood the images of the 
Lares, and upon it burned the sacred lamp. The wife 
would be expected to offer incense and libations to these 
household divinities, and might be subjected to great 
indignities and cruelty if she refused. But refuse she 
must, if an earnest Christian, for under the influence of 
her pure faith idolatry was looked upon with horror. 



DIVORCE IN THE NEW TESTAMENT. 329 

Suppose, then, that the heathen husband declares his pur- 
pose to forsake his wife, and the only way to prevent this 
desertion is for her to submit to his demands in the sphere 
of religion. To retain him she must encounter spiritual 
bondage. But this course was likely to prove vexatious, 
irritating, and destructive of peace. The pagan husband 
would be suspicious and disposed to insist upon much 
that would torture the conscience of his Christian wife, 
and the Christian wife would be profoundly troubled by 
every act which seemed to her an endorsement of idol- 
worship. Paul therefore, in reply to a request for in- 
struction on this point, says to the Corinthians, " If the 
unbelieving is seeking to depart, let him depart." "Do not 
oppose separation, if it is sought by a heathen compan- 
ion and will be conducive to peace." The believer is not 
a bondslave to the marriage state, nor required to sacri- 
fice self-respect and domestic quiet for the purpose of 
winning an unbelieving husband to the truth. "The 
chance of converting a heathen partner is too remote to 
justify the breach of harmony which such conduct would 
occasion." (Stanley). " Let him depart." 

But what does this signify ? Not that she is relieved 
by the departure of her unbelieving companion from con- 
jugal obligation, and at liberty to contract another mar- 
riage. For the word " depart " is the same which is used 
in the eleventh verse : " But unto the married I com- 
mand — not I, but the Lord — that a wife ' depart ' not 
from her husband ; but even if she ' depart,' let her 
remain unmarried, or be reconciled to her husband." 
He is still her husband, and she has no right to contract 
a second marriage. So in case the unbelieving husband 
departs, he is still the husband of his deserted wife, and 
she is the wife of her deserting husband. It is but a 



330 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

separation from bed and board, not a full and final 
divorce. The irate and departing husband may be at 
length converted, and return to his faithful wife. Or he 
may take another wife and by this fatal breach of con- 
jugal fidelity give his former and real wife ground for 
seeking complete divorce. But in itself his desertion of 
the Christian wife would not be ground for an irrevoca- 
ble separation ; would not sunder the marriage tie, and 
render her competent to become the wife of another man ; 
much less would it authorize him to become the husband 
of another woman. 

Thus the teaching of Paul does not add a second 
ground of divorce to the one admitted by the Lord Jesus. 
For, as you will recollect, our Saviour appears to have re- 
garded a woman who was divorced for any cause, save 
one, as guilty of adultery if she married again, and to 
have deemed her husband as particularly culpable for 
putting her away, because he thereby led her to commit 
adultery by a second marriage. It was not therefore the 
hardship of the separation, but the guilt of the re- 
marriage, which was emphasized by him. If, then, the 
apostle merely directs the Christian consort, in certain 
circumstances, to acquiesce in a "separation from bed 
and board," his words are perfectly compatible with those 
of his Master ; but if he directs the believer to acquiesce 
in a complete separation which is regarded as authorizing 
the deserted party to marry again, even while the heathen 
deserter remains unmarried and chaste, his words do not 
agree with the most obvious meaning of the Lord's. 

Moreover, the correct interpretation of the apostle's 
words in this place shows the agreement between his 
language here and elsewhere. For in the thirty-ninth 
verse of this chapter it is said : " A wife is bound as long 



DIVORCE IN THE NEW TESTAMENT. 331 

as her husband lives ; but if the husband dies, she is free 
to be married to whom she will, only in the Lord." And 
in the Epistle to the Eomans he repeats the same 
thought : " For the married woman is bound by law to 
her living husband ; but if the husband dies, she is free 
from the law of the husband. So then, if, while the 
husband lives, she become another man's, she shall be 
called an adulteress ; but if the husband die, she is free 
from the law, so that she is not an adulteress, though 
she become another man's." 

Now in both these passages, agreeably to the doctrine 
of Christ, death is spoken of as severing the conjugal 
bond, and nothing else is mentioned as doing this. But 
if wilful desertion by a heathen partner severed it, there 
must have been numerous instances of the sort, and 
some notice of them might naturally be expected in more 
places than one. 

We conclude, therefore, that the language of Paul in 
1 Cor. vii. 15, 16 justifies a husband or wife in sometimes 
asking for a bill of separation from bed and board on 
account of wilful desertion by the other party, but not in 
asking for a bill of divorce severing the bond of matri- 
mony and qualifying the innocent party for renewed wed- 
lock. The language of our Saviour is so clear and explicit 
in declaring adultery to be the only crime which author- 
izes divorce from the marriage bond valid in the sight of 
God, and the language of Paul is so perfectly accounted 
for by supposing him to speak of permanent separation 
merely, that we are unable to reach any other conclusion. 
And this conclusion ought to regulate our conduct ; for in 
such a case we are bound to follow the clearest light and 
strongest evidence which is afforded by the sacred oracles. 
The duty of Christians to obey the will of Christ is im- 



332 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

perative ; and we are satisfied that his will is clearly ex- 
pressed, that the language of his apostle agrees with the 
literal sense of his own, and that Christian churches are 
required by their allegiance to him to treat all divorces 
for other causes than fornication as null and void, the 
parties in such cases being still, before God, husband and 
wife, so that re-marriage is sinful. 

IV. But does not the language of Paul to Timothy, 
requiring that a bishop should be the " husband of one 
wife " and an aged widow, to be enrolled, " wife of one 
husband," imply that there were members in the churches 
who could not be thus described ? We think it does. 
What then did the apostle mean by "husband of one 
wife," and " wife of one husband " ? Evidently, as all in- 
terpreters agree, husband of no more than one wife, and 
wife of no more than one husband. But does he refer to 
what they now were, to their present family relations, or 
to what they had been in the past ? Certainly, to the 
latter; for a widow has no husband, and a bishop might 
surely have no wife, at the time when he was appointed to 
office. The expression must then be retrospective. Can 
we then suppose that Paul here condemns a man who has 
taken a second wife after the death of his first, as un- 
worthy of being made pastor of a Christian Church ? I 
believe not, though many distinguished scholars favor 
this interpretation. For it seems to me impossible to 
suppose that the same apostle would teach in his epistle 
to the Romans that " a wife is loosed from the law of her 
husband if he be dead, so that she is not an adulteress, 
though she become another man's wife," and in his epistle 
to the Corinthians, that " a wife is bound as long as her 
husband liveth, but if the husband die, she is free to be 
married to whom she will, only in the Lord," and in his 



DIVORCE IN THE NEW TESTAMENT. 333 

first epistle to Timothy, that he " desired to have the 
younger widows marry, bear children, and rule the house- 
hold," and in spite of all this would forbid a widow who 
had been married to a second husband after the death of 
the first, to be enrolled with those whose age and useful- 
ness entitled them to special consideration. Nor is it 
very credible that Paul would have treated a man's 
taking a second wife after the death of a first, as disqual- 
ifying him for the pastoral office. It is necessary there- 
fore to suppose that he would exclude from the pastorate 
such men as had married a second wife, while the first 
was still living, though perhaps divorced for reasons not 
recognized by Christ as valid. At that time there were 
not a few cases of the kind in every considerable town. 
Divorces were frequent in the pagan world. The life of 
families was desecrated by them. Hatred and reproach 
often followed in their train. Children were left to the 
care of but a single parent, instead of having the benefit of 
nurture and training under both. And evils too compli- 
cated and far-reaching to be adequately portrayed followed 
the violation of divine order in the family. 

The following propositions sum up the results of our 
study on this subject: — 

1. According to the New Testament there is but one 
proper ground for divorce, namely, fornication or adul- 
tery, together with certain monstrous crimes of a similar 
nature. But while the sin of fornication, as thus ex- 
plained, authorizes, it does not require the innocent party 
to seek a dissolution of the marriage contract. A faith- 
ful husband or wife is at liberty to forgive an unfaithful 
companion, and when there is clear evidence of repent- 
ance this should often be done. 

2. Christian churches ought to recognize in their disci- 



334 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND KELIGION. 

pline no other cause of divorce as sufficient. In this 
matter they cannot take counsel of the civil law, but 
must cheerfully sustain the divine code. And in order 
to do this effectively they will find it necessary to treat 
those who have been divorced for any other cause as 
ineligible to marriage. 

3. Separation from bed and board may properly be 
granted to the innocent party, when the other is guilty 
of wilful desertion or of other crimes tantamount to 
desertion. The parties, however, are still held by the 
nuptial tie, and cannot, so long as both live, be married 
to others without sin. 

But it is one thing to ascertain the law of Christ 
respecting divorce, and to regulate our conduct in mar- 
riage by that law, and quite another thing to ascertain 
the duty of those who have broken the law in question 
by polygamy or re-marriage. For example, heathen mar- 
riages are valid ; for they are treated as such by the New 
Testament. The bond of matrimony does not owe its 
sacredness to any legal form or religious ceremony. It 
exists and is binding wherever the parties are united as 
husband and wife, according to the usages of the people 
with whom they dwell. But it is null when either of 
the parties is, for any sufficient reason, incapable of mar- 
riage, and one such reason is when either of them is 
married already. In polygamy, the first union only is 
marriage by the higher law, the divine standard of 
morals ; for that union renders the husband incompetent 
to enter into wedlock with another person. His duty to 
the first wife is exclusive ; the two are one flesh, the hus- 
band belonging to the wife and the wife to the husband, 
in such a sense that conjugal union with a second wife is 
impossible. After visiting Salt Lake City many years 



DIVORCE IN THE NEW TESTAMENT. 335 

ago, when Mormon polygamy was at its height, Mr. 
Bowles wrote as follows (''Across the Continent," p. 115) : 
" The first wife is generally the recognized one of society, 
and frequently assumes contempt for the others, regarding 
them as concubines, not as wives. But it is a dreadful 
state of society to any one of fine feelings and true in- 
stincts ; it robs married life of all its sweet sentiment 
and companionship ; and while it degrades woman, it 
brutalizes man, teaching him to despise and domineer 
over his wives, — over all women." 

It is then evident that in a state of polygamy women 
have some apprehension of their true relation to the man 
with whom they are living. The first wife, unless igno- 
rant and stupid, must feel that she is entitled to a 
divorce when her husband takes a second wife. But 
where polygamy is tolerated she may not be able to 
obtain this divorce ; and if it is possible for her to obtain 
it, she may have many reasons for not insisting upon her 
rights in the case. Among these may be named a sincere 
attachment to her unfaithful husband and a tender love 
for their children. For she may see that divorce will 
involve separation from these children, or a burden of 
responsibility for their support which she is unable to 
bear. Thus the evils of her present lot may seem to her 
more tolerable than those which might follow divorce. 
And if a Mormon wife connects with the idea of divorce 
a loss of future blessedness, which she is taught to be- 
lieve depends on her conjugal union with a Latter-Day 
Saint, it is almost certain that she would shrink from any 
legal separation from her husband, however irksome her 
union with him had become. 

But what ought to be done in such a case ? The poly- 
gamist husband is under obligation to cease his unchris- 



336 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

tian intercourse with the women whom he could not truly 
marry, but at the same time treat them and their chil- 
dren by him with as much respect and kindness as he 
would if his past connection with them had been right 
and pleasing to God. This seems to be the most that he 
can properly do, and the least which the golden rule will 
suffer him to do. And we understand that the present 
laws of the United States require this of Mormon poly- 
gamists. They are forbidden to maintain conjugal rela- 
tions with any but the first wife, yet, in view of all the 
circumstances, their other wives are to be suitably pro- 
vided for, and their children by them, recognized as 
legitimate. 

The question under consideration presents itself to 
every missionary who labors for a people addicted to 
polygamy. What shall a converted polygamist be taught 
to do with his many wives and children ? Shall he treat 
all the wives alike and their children as of equal rank ? 
Shall he treat all but the first wife as concubines and 
their children as illegitimate ? Or shall he treat all the 
children as legitimate and equal, though he refrains from 
conjugal intercourse with any of his wives, except the 
one first taken ? The last course has been generally 
followed by heathen converts under the instruction of 
Protestant missionaries, though some of these converts, 
while living in other respects a Christian life, have de- 
clined to make so radical a change in their families, be- 
lieving that they ought to treat all their wives alike, 
and on this account have not been received to church 
membership. There is doubtless some degree of hard- 
ship involved in the change required, but it is probably 
safer than the continuance of polygamy, and none too 
emphatic a protest against a sinful custom. 



DIVORCE IN THE NEW TESTAMENT. 337 

Again, it sometimes happens in parts of our own land 
where no one justifies polygamy, that a wife obtains a 
legal divorce from her husband on the charge of cruelty 
or desertion, and is subsequently married to another man. 
In doing this she may be only concerned for her own 
good name and indifferent to the divine will, or she may 
assume that the civil law agrees with the law of God and 
shows her what is right in the case. Perhaps she has 
lived several years with the second husband and has 
borne him children, though she had none by her former 
husband. Is it not easy to see that, while she erred in 
seeking a full divorce from her first husband and in mar- 
rying the second, she cannot correct that error without 
doing more harm than good to those intimately con- 
cerned ? Hence most persons would probably say at 
once : she is under no moral obligation to return to her 
first husband. Possibly the civil law would be broken 
by her doing so. The path of duty is not then perfectly 
clear. But the whole community has a deep interest in 
preserving the sanctity of marriage, and may know that 
divorce for any but the highest reason will prove a far- 
reaching evil. The question of duty must be answered 
from a point of view which embraces the widest range of 
consequences. Is it safe to hold that an improper mar- 
riage may be consummated and ratified by the birth of 
children ? Are there not in a majority of cases children 
by the first husband as well as by the second ? And is 
not the influence of a bad precedent likely to produce 
more evil in the end than would be involved in breaking 
up the second connection, and resuming, if possible, 
the first ? 

In reflecting upon such violations of the Christian rule 
for divorce as admit of no remedy without serious evil to 

22 



338 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

some of the parties concerned, great perplexity arises, 
and we are impressed with the truth of the old proverb, 
that " An ounce of prevention is worth more than a pound 
of cure." We are also made to feel the importance of 
bringing the civil law into accord with the law of Christ. 
But the wickedness of the people sometimes forbids this. 
And " in all cases where the political regulation admits 
practices at war with God's regulations for piety, the 
duty of every good man is, never to avail himself of the 
political license, but live up to the higher law, and thus 
put as much virtue into the political constitution as 
possible " (Lawrence Hickok). 

According to the report of Commissioner Wright, the 
number of divorces annually granted in the United States 
is greater than that in all the rest of the Christian world, 
Protestant, Catholic, and Greek. 

" Statistics are presented in the Report from all of Chris- 
tian Europe, except Spain, Portugal, and Greece, and indi- 
cate about twenty thousand divorces and separations each 
year. Australia has probably less than one hundred; Canada 
has twelve ; and a few hundred would almost certainly include 
all that are granted in Central and South America; twenty- 
one thousand would be an outside estimate of the annual 
number of divorces and separations in the Christian world, 
exclusive of the United States; and in this country there 
were in 1885 over twenty-three thousand " (W. F. Willcox in 
"The Independent"). 

The laws of Massachusetts provide that — 

"a divorce from bed and board may be decreed for extreme 
cruelty, utter desertion, gross and confirmed habits of intem- 
perance contracted after marriage, or cruel and abusive treat- 
ment of either of the parties; and on the libel of the wife, 



DIVORCE IN THE NEW TESTAMENT. 339 

when the husband, being of sufficient ability, grossly or wan- 
tonly and cruelly refuses and neglects to provide suitable 
maintenance for her." 

This provision agrees with the divine law. It makes 
no attempt to sever the nuptial tie ; the parties are at 
liberty to resume their conjugal duties at any time, and 
reformation will sometimes ensue. But the further enact- 
ment, that " when the parties have lived separately for 
five consecutive years next after the decree, a divorce 
from the bonds of matrimony may be decreed," does not 
represent the divine standard of morality, and cannot be 
made a rule of discipline for Christian churches. Other 
States have similar laws, but not the same. 

From the statistics already given and the law r s con- 
cerning divorce in the several States, we are forced to 
believe that the blessings of home life are in serious peril, 
because of the ease and frequency with which the marriage 
bond is legally severed. What, then, can be done to escape 
the peril ? How may the frequency of drvorce be lessened 
and the full blessings of home be secured ? A partial 
answer to these questions will be suggested by certain 
things which facilitate divorce and account in some 
measure for its frequency. 

One of these things is a lack of uniformity in State 
laws respecting divorce. With present means of travel 
the whole country is practically one. Thousands of fami- 
lies remove every year from one State to another. 
Changes of residence are so easily made from the East 
to the West that they attract little attention ; hence it 
is almost useless to guard the sanctity of marriage by 
careful legislation in one part of the country if it is not 
thus guarded in the other parts. An effort should, there- 
fore, be made to secure agreement in the law T s of all the 



340 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

States as to marriage and divorce ; and the reasons for 
substantial agreement are so obvious that such an effort, 
though hindered by many causes, ought to be successful 
in the end. 

Another thing which contributes to the frequency of 
divorce is bad legislation on the subject. Such legislation 
appears in at least three particulars : the list of valid 
grounds for divorce is made to embrace too many offences ; 
the legal process for obtaining divorce is made too easy 
and rapid ; and the penalty imposed on the wrong-doer is 
made too light. These particulars are illustrated with 
great fulness and force in the late President Woolsey's 
work on " Divorce and Divorce Legislation." Something 
has been done in a few of the States to improve their 
divorce laws since that book was published ; but far more 
remains to be done, and the earnest friends of home life 
should seize every favorable opportunity to seek further 
changes conducive to the stability of marriage. The legal 
standard may never be raised to that of the New Testa- 
ment, but it may be made to approach it more nearly 
than it now does. 

Yet neither the contradictory nor the unwise legisla- 
tion of the States on divorce is the principal cause of its 
frequency ; for, in general, the will of the people is ex- 
pressed by the laws. Not always, indeed, the will of the 
whole people or even of a majority ; for only a few ques- 
tions are of a controlling interest at elections ; but the 
will of such a part of the people as press their wishes on 
the attention of legislators. If, then, the laws concerning 
divorce are unsatisfactory, it* must be because the people 
have been too indifferent to make their will understood, 
or because they have approved the laws in question. In 
either case, it is the minds and hearts of the people that 



DIVORCE IN THE NEW TESTAMENT. 341 

must be reached in order to remedy the evils of divorce ; 
for their influence will operate directly in social life and 
mediately in legislative halls and courts of justice. 

Divorce is sought in a majority of instances by wives. 
Is it because they are more exacting than is proper, or 
because their husbands are less gentle and faithful than 
should be expected ? There is often without doubt more 
or less of misconception and evil-surmising on both sides, 
but it is scarcely possible to exonerate men from the 
charge of falling below the standard of duty in conjugal 
life more frequently than women. There are at least 
three ways in which husbands of upright purpose are liable 
to disappoint the just expectations of their wives : first, 
by neglecting to continue through life the expressions of 
respect and affection which they gave so freely in their 
early love ; secondly, by withholding from them a knowl- 
edge of their financial condition, and a liberal share of 
their income, for independent use ; and thirdly, by failing 
to give a most tender and unselfish consideration to every- 
thing which concerns maternity. Marriage would rarely 
prove a burden to wives, if husbands did not thus with- 
draw from them the loving confidence which has been 
promised and which they have a right to expect, — a con- 
fidence which would do more than wealth to fill their 
hearts with contentment. 

It must also be admitted that the method of conduct- 
ing business by means of runners, the multiplication of 
clubs in our cities and villages, and the diffusion of certain 
theories concerning economic and social improvement, are 
unfavorable to the permanency of marriage. The evils of 
frequent divorce are not, therefore, likely to be even di- 
minished, not to say removed, without wise and persistent 
effort. They will continue and perhaps increase, unless 



342 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

the reason and conscience of the people can be directed 
to them and roused to action. Men and women of all 
ranks must be made to understand the value of home and 
the evils which threaten it. Their minds must be im- 
pressed with the truth that children need the influence of 
both parents, father and mother, for their proper training, 
and their hearts must be filled with the conviction that 
the advantages of wealth or social position are less than 
nothing when compared with the blessing of an upright 
and united family. 

In a word, the advocates of divorce reform must show 
the people the urgent need of it. And in doing this 
parents, ministers, teachers, judges, legislators, and philan- 
thropists should unite. There is no reason why all who 
honor marriage and love virtue should not join hands in 
promoting this reform. But it is specially important for 
ministers of the gospel to study it from the highest point 
of view, the law of Christ, and to seek for legislation as 
nearly in accord with that law as the hardness of the 
people's heart will bear. Their influence within the limits 
of church life would be much increased, if they could by 
further inquiry agree upon the meaning of Paul in 1 Cor. 
vii. 15. For, in that case, Christians of every name would 
soon accept the apostle's rule, whether it was understood 
to authorize full divorce or mere separation on account of 
desertion. And if true Christians were of one heart and 
mind in making " fornication " the only ground of divorce, 
their influence would be greatly increased. 

It is the duty of ministers and churches to see that the 
law of Christ on this subject is clearly understood. Let 
the truth be plainly taught, and the friends of Christ will 
not be slow to receive it. Scandals will be prevented. 
Those who reverence the Master will not commit them- 



DIVORCE IN THE NEW TESTAMENT. 343 

selves to a course which, his words pronounce criminal. 
They will not venture on a life of doubtful morality. 
Then may we hope that marriage will at length be treated 
as sacred, even by those who do not bow to the authority 
of Christ. Then may we hope that the closest earthly 
fellowship, ordained from the beginning for man by his 
Maker, and recognized as a symbol of the Saviour's union 
with his people, will be consecrated afresh in the eyes of 
men, and prove a source of immeasurable good to the race. 
Then may we hope that mutual love, founded on esteem, 
will more uniformly precede this life-long fellowship, and 
becoming deeper and purer with every passing year, distil 
its precious influence upon the spirit of childhood and 
youth, making the family home the sweetest spot on earth 
— a school of virtue and a type of heaven. 



THE DOCTEINE OF THE HIGHEE CHKISTIAN 
LIFE EXAMINED. 

Introductory. 

TN undertaking a comparison of the doctrine of "The 
■*■ Higher Christian Life," as it is sometimes called, 
with the teachings of the Word of God, the writer is 
deeply sensible of many perils lying in his way ; for such 
a comparison must involve a certain amount of contro- 
versy, and controversy is very apt to lead those who 
engage in it to adopt partial views of truth. Moreover, 
this peril is not confined to those who engage in the 
discussion ; it extends to all who take a lively interest in 
the question, and can only be shunned by constant watch- 
fulness and supreme love of the truth. Hence the writer 
is extremely anxious to treat the subject in such a manner 
that those who agree with him may have their sense of 
obligation to live a holy life, and their hope of rapid 
growth in grace strengthened, while those who disagree 
with him may be profited in some way rather than irri- 
tated and injured. The task is plainly a difficult one, but 
by the blessing of God it may perhaps be accomplished. 

But why should this task be undertaken at all ? For 
two reasons. First, the question at issue between those 
who advocate the doctrine of " the higher life," and those 
who reject it, is one of great practical importance. This 



HIGHER CHRISTIAN LIFE EXAMINED. 345 

might be said of almost every question which relates to 
the substance of Christian truth ; but it can be affirmed 
with special emphasis of the one now under considera- 
tion, for its bearing on religious character and life is both 
direct and powerful. The type of piety exhibited by those 
who receive the doctrine may be easily distinguished from 
the type of piety seen in earnest Christians who reject 
it ; and the connection between doctrine and life, in both 
cases, is very manifest. This, then, is one reason for 
the present discussion ; the question at issue is of great 
practical moment. And, second, there are many sincere 
Christians whose minds are perplexed on this subject. 
Desirous of ascertaining, if possible, whether the doctrine 
in question is true or false, they wish to have it carefully 
examined in the light of God's Word, in order that, if 
found to be true, they may receive it, and, if false, re- 
ject it. The prospect of doing something to satisfy the 
desire of these brethren, by removing doubt and perplexity 
from their minds, is a strong and prevailing reason for 
attempting to compare the doctrine of " the higher life " 
with the language of the Sacred Oracles. Even partial 
success in such an undertaking would be a great reward. 
To these reasons may properly be added the remark that 
religious discussion, with all its perils, is not only service- 
able in defending the truth, but also conducive to a better 
knowledge of the truth itself. Its effect in the latter 
direction is often remote, but generally certain. 

Points of Agkeement. 

Before describing those features of the doctrine of " the 
higher life" from which the writer feels himself com- 
pelled to dissent, it will be proper to mention a few points 



346 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

of agreement between that doctrine and his own, that the 
reader may be in possession of the whole subject, and 
be able to estimate correctly the divergence of the former 
view from the latter. And, first, the piety of many per- 
sons who must be esteemed Christians is mournfully de- 
fective. Their faith in the promises of God is weak, their 
hope of eternal life faint, and their love to the souls of 
men inoperative. They make no visible progress in the 
divine life. They give no evidence, by word or deed, that 
" the joy of the Lord is their strength," or that " the king- 
dom of God," as known by them, " is righteousness, and 
peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost." After years of con- 
nection with the Church, they remain babes in Christ, 
having little more strength than when they first tasted 
the good word of God, and the powers of the world to 
come. Thus they appear to be like the Hebrew Chris- 
tians, who were still ignorant and immature when they 
ought to have been already well instructed and able to 
distinguish the truth from error (Heb. v. 12-14). It is 
and must be for a lamentation, that so many of the Lord's 
redeemed ones know so little in the present life, of the 
exceeding riches of his grace toward them that believe. 
This course of thought anticipates a second point of 
agreement, — namely, that the experience of Christians, 
immediately after conversion, is not the highest which 
they should expect in this life. However sweet and 
joyous it may be, this experience is the sparkling brook 
rather than the mighty river; and every affluent from 
the hills of providence on the one hand, or of grace on 
the other, should increase its volume and power. The 
work of renewal is only begun, not finished, by regen- 
eration. This is the doctrine of the Bible, as well as of 
nature ; and therefore every Christian should expect to 



HIGHER CHRISTIAN LIFE EXAMINED. 347 

« grow in the grace and knowledge of Christ " until the 
hour of his death. But many do not look or seek for 
this. Many live as if they supposed the work of sancti- 
fication to be carried as far, at the moment of the new 
birth, as it will ever be carried on the shores of time. 
Such a view, it is almost needless to repeat, has no 
support in the Word of God, and no analogy in the con- 
stitution and course of nature. It cannot, therefore, be 
deprecated and opposed too heartily. A third point of 
agreement may be found in the belief that sanctification 
is wrought by the Spirit of God. As lie regenerates the 
soul by imparting to it a holy disposition, so he carries on 
the work thus begun by increasing the power of that dis- 
position, and subduing the evil tendencies which oppose 
it. Hence love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, good- 
ness, faithfulness, meekness, temperance, are said to be 
the fruit of the Spirit. Hence also it is said that the 
Spirit is opposed to the flesh, and the flesh to the Spirit. 
Turning away, then, from the question of means and 
modes, it is important to observe that those who accept 
the doctrine of " the higher life " agree with those who 
reject it, in ascribing the work of sanctification to the 
Holy Spirit. A fourth point of agreement may be dis- 
covered in the belief that sanctification is complete 
before the soul enters Paradise. No relish for evil, no 
selfish or sinful desire, will pollute the spirit when it bids 
adieu to the present state, and enters into rest. Yet the 
agreement in this fourth particular may not be perfect. 
Christians who profess to enjoy " the higher life " com- 
monly hold that sanctification is completed in every case 
before the moment of death, while many others believe 
that it is completed in the very article of death, — a 
difference of much greater importance than it seems to 



348 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

be at first sight. In his works, vol. vi. pp. 531, 532, Mr. 
Wesley thus speaks of Christian perfection : " I believe 
this perfection is always wrought in the soul by a simple 
act of faith ; consequently in an instant. But I believe 
[in] a gradual work, both preceding and following that 
instant. As to the time, I believe this instant generally 
is the instant of death, the moment before the soul leaves 
the body. But I believe it may be ten, twenty, or forty 
years before." Probably he intended to explain the words, 
"instant of death," by the words, "moment before the 
soul leaves the body." 

Points of Difference. 

Having noticed a few points in which the writer agrees 
substantially with those who teach the doctrine of "the 
higher life," it is now desirable to fix attention on the 
two great features of this doctrine which seem to him 
unscriptural and dangerous. The first feature is its divi- 
sion of Christians into two distinct classes ; one embracing 
the few believers in Christ who have experienced a second 
spiritual change, subsequent and analogous to their re- 
generation, but raising them to a definitely higher plane 
of holy living ; and the other embracing the many be- 
lievers in Christ who have not experienced this change, 
but remain on the lower plane of ordinary Christian life. 
And the second feature is its estimate or account of the 
moral state of those embraced in the former class ; for it 
assigns to them a degree of faith and devotion which is 
described now as " Christian perfection," then as " entire 
consecration," now as " perfect trust," and then as " per- 
fect love," but always as something which separates them 
by a vast interval from Christians who still mourn over 



HIGHER CHRISTIAN LIFE EXAMINED. 349 

the weakness of their faith, and plead with God for the 
pardon of their daily sins. 

Objection and .Reply. 

These are the two distinctive features of the doctrine, 
and therefore it is necessary to compare them with the 
representations of Christian life in the New Testament. 
If they agree with those representations, it is the duty of 
every Christian to accept them ; if they do not, it is 
equally the duty of every one to reject them. But at 
this point a difficulty is sometimes met. Must not expe- 
rience, it is asked, count for something in the interpreta- 
tion of Scripture ? If an affirmative answer must be 
given to this question, can any one who has not experi- 
enced the blessing of entire sanctification be supposed to 
understand the Bible, if it speaks of this blessing ? and 
is it not the duty of those who have not attained " the 
higher life," to take the testimony of those who have, as 
to the reality and perfection of it ? To meet the diffi- 
culty thus suggested, it may be said, first, that spiritual 
discernment is possessed in some degree by all who 
have been created anew in Christ Jesus ; secondly, that 
the writings of the New Testament were nearly all ad- 
dressed to ordinary instead of eminent Christians, and 
were adapted to their spiritual state ; thirdly, that the 
Bereans, though recently converted, were praised by 
Luke for testing the doctrine of an apostle by comparing 
it with the ancient Scriptures ; fourthly, that the history 
of our religion proves it to be the duty of every believer 
to study the Sacred Oracles for himself, with a confident 
hope, that, doing this in a right spirit and with proper 
care, he will learn the truth ; fifthly, that it is quite as 



350 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

easy for a good man to interpret the Word of God as to 
interpret his own experience, to determine the sense of 
inspired language as to determine the degree of holiness 
in his own heart ; and, finally, that nearly all religious 
enthusiasts and fanatics plead in their defence an inward 
light or experience which enables them to find in the 
Scriptures truth hidden from others. It does not, then, 
savor of arrogance for any honest believer in Christ to 
test the doctrines which he is asked to receive, by pla- 
cing them side by side with the Word of God. 



Division into Two Classes. 

STATEMENT OF THE QUESTION. 

It is conceded by all that faith, hope, and love are 
capable of growth in a soul which has been regenerated 
by the Spirit of God. It is also admitted that some 
believers in Christ are manifestly in advance of others, 
apprehending more truth, feeling more trust, having more 
zeal, and doing more service. Christian experience does 
not conduct man, as by a straight path, across a level 
plane, to a point no higher than the one which he left at 
conversion. There is progress into a higher and a purer 
state ; and the question now to be answered concerns the 
method or law of that progress. Are Christians in the 
present state living on one and the same plane, sloping 
upward to the height of perfection by a gradual ascent, 
or are they living on two separate planes, one far above 
the other ? The latter is understood to be the view of 
brethren who profess to enjoy what is called "the higher 
life." Into the experience of this life they believe that 
Christians enter by a distinct change, subsequent and 



HIGHER CHRISTIAN LIFE EXAMINED. 351 

analogous to regeneration. This change is thought to be 
described in the New Testament by such expressions as 
these: being "renewed" by the Spirit, "sealed" by the 
Spirit, " transformed " by the Spirit, or " baptized " in the 
Spirit. In order, then, to test the correctness of their 
belief, the language of Scripture must be closely ex- 
amined ; and this may be done conveniently by endeavor- 
ing to ascertain whether the ordinary style of the apostles 
favors this division of Christians into two separate classes, 
and then, whether the particular expressions enumerated 
above point to such a division. 

Classes of Christians. 

Do the Scriptures, and especially the writings of the 
apostles, separate Christians into two great classes ? The 
epithets which are applied by Paul to the Christians in 
Rome, in Corinth, in Philippi, in Ephesus, are very 
strong, and seem to be used indiscriminately of all those 
addressed. These are recognized as "the saints," or 
" holy ones," the " called," the " justified," the " sancti- 
fied," the " washed," the " holy brethren," as " new crea- 
tures," and as " temples of the Holy Ghost." These 
expressions, and others of similar import, seem to be ap- 
plied to all addressed, in consideration of their faith in 
Christ. Whole churches are saluted as if they were com- 
posed exclusively of persons who were justified, sancti- 
fied, holy, even when they are afterward reproved for 
manifold sins. It is natural, therefore, to suppose that 
the terms used were meant to be expressive of the legal 
state and prescribed character of those in the churches, 
of what was now their standing in Christ, and of what 
they were certain to become by his grace. They were 



352 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

represented as belonging to the class of the holy, not 
because they were such already in fact, seen by them- 
selves, but because they were such in germ and in pros- 
pect, by virtue of the indwelling Spirit, who had begun 
the work of sanctification, and would surely carry it on 
until the day of final redemption. 

There is, however, in certain passages an intimation 
that some believers are "perfect," while others are less 
advanced, or only " babes " in Christ ; but the term * per- 
fect," like the terms " holy " " sanctified," and the like, is 
obviously used in a qualified sense and denotes a mature 
Christian, well-grounded and well-instructed in the gospel 
of salvation. It is applicable not to novices in Christian 
life and doctrine, but to those who have made considerable 
progress, and, " by reason of use, have their senses exercised 
to discern both good and evil." In this sense Job was per- 
fect, David was perfect, and the apostles, with many of 
the early Christians, were perfect ; but not in the sense 
claimed by those who advocate the doctrine of " the higher 
life," not as having an experience specifically distinct from 
that of other saints. Indeed, the word " perfect " is used 
in a broader sense than either " justified " or " sanctified," 
since it characterizes one as fit for a particular service, 
whether that service require mental, spiritual, or other 
qualities in him who undertakes it. It may be necessary 
to recur in another connection to the biblical use of this 
word ; but for the present it is enough to say, that a close 
examination of the passages in which the apostles refer 
to certain Christians as " the perfect " will make it evi- 
dent that they ascribe to them nothing more than a high 
degree of Christian experience, understanding, maturity, 
without any allusion to a second renewal, or to complete 
holiness of heart. Hence the question proposed above 



HIGHER CHRISTIAN LIFE EXAMINED. 353 

must be answered in the negative. The Scriptures, and 
especially the writings of the apostles, do not separate 
Christians into two great classes, .but rather treat them 
as all one in Christ, as justified, sanctified, saved, when 
viewed from the divine side, but as being sanctified and 
beins saved when viewed from the human side. 



Renewal of Christians. 

Do the Scriptures speak of a " renewal " of Christians, 
distinct from, and subsequent to, their regeneration ? 
And, if so, what is the character of this renewal ? An 
answer to these questions may be found in certain pas- 
sages of the New Testament ; but that answer will not 
agree with the doctrine of "the higher life." In Titus 
iii. 5, Paul asserts that salvation is effected " by the wash- 
ing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost ; " 
thus distinguishing, it is said, the work of " regeneration " 
from a subsequent work of the Spirit called " renewal." 
This, however, is a doubtful interpretation of the apostle's 
language, it being quite as natural to refer both terms, 
"regeneration" and "renewal," to the same act of the 
Spirit. For two or more words of slightly different 
meaning are often used for the sake of emphasis, in de- 
scribing the same event, especially when, as in the pres- 
ent case, the different words each present striking aspects 
of that event. But, even if the two words here employed 
denote separate acts of the Spirit, the latter may refer to 
a process by which the former is completed. There is 
nothing in the apostle's language to forbid the supposi- 
tion that the word " renewing " signifies a gradual, pro- 
tracted work of sanctification, ending only with life. 

Indeed, this interpretation of his words to Titus is 

I 23 



354 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

favored by a passage in his second letter to the Corin- 
thians, iv. 16, which may be translated thus: "For this 
cause we faint not; .but, though our outward man is 
perishing, yet the inward is being renewed day by day." 
A process of decay in the one part of his being, a process 
of renewal in the other ! And the latter must be what is 
commonly spoken of as " growth in grace," or the process 
of sanctification ; not a saltus, not a sudden vaulting from 
one plane of experience to another ; but a growth " day 
by day," month by month, year by year, till the body is 
laid aside by death. 

This, too, is the only natural view to be taken of Paul's 
language in the preceding chapter of the same letter, iii. 
18 : "But we all with open face, beholding as in a glass 
the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image, 
from glory to glory, as by the Spirit of the Lord." The 
apostle is here speaking of Christians, as such, in contrast 
with Jews. A veil was still upon the hearts of the latter, 
when Moses was read : but in the gospel the former, with 
unveiled face, beheld as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, 
and were inwardly transformed from one degree of glory, 
or likeness to Christ, to another; and this progressive 
sanctification, through the truth of the gospel, was wrought 
by the Lord, the Spirit. The note of Alford is correct : 
" The change here spoken of is a spiritual one, not the 
bodily change at the resurrection ; it is going on here in 
the process of sanctification ; " and again, " The process of 
renewal after Christ's image is such a transformation as 
may be expected from the agency of the Lord, the Spirit ; 
Christ himself being the image." See chap. iv. 4. 

In obvious agreement with these passages is the lan- 
guage of Paul in Col. iii. 9, 10 : " Lie not one to another, 
seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds, 



HIGHER CHRISTIAN LIFE EXAMINED. 355 

and have put on the new man, who is being renewed unto 
knowledge after the image of him who created him." The 
translation given is that of the Bible Union, with which 
that of Alford and that of Noyes are nearly identical ; 
and it is clear, from this improved rendering of the Greek 
original, that the " renewal " was conceived of by the 
apostle as continuous, progressive, and therefore incom- 
plete in all those whom he was addressing. Nay, more : 
by the exquisite precision of his language he describes the 
act of " putting off the old man and putting on the new 
man " as completed in the past, that is, at conversion ; 
while the renewal is described as both present and incom- 
plete : " Ye did put off the old man with his deeds, and 
did put on the new man, who is being renewed," etc. 

With these characteristic expressions of Paul may be 
joined the exhortation of Peter in his second epistle, iii. 
18 : "But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord 
and Saviour Jesus Christ." Here the grace and knowl- 
edge of Christ are represented as the atmosphere or ele- 
ment in which Christians are exhorted to grow ; and this 
growth must be a gradual increase of faith, love, hope, and 
joy, with their natural fruit, holy conduct. 

Sealing of Christians. 

Do the Scriptures speak of certain Christians as being 
" sealed " by the Spirit after their regeneration ? And. 
if so, what was the nature of this blessing ? President 
Mahan, in his work on " The Baptism of the Holy Ghost," 
lays great stress on Eph. i. 13 : " In whom ye also trusted, 
after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your 
salvation ; in whom also, after that ye believed, ye were 
sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise." "Here/' he 



356 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

says, " we have the order of facts as developed in actual 
experience, — as the hearing, then the believing, then 
finally, after believing, the sealing with the Holy Spirit of 
promise, . . . when God gives his Spirit, that is, his seal 
to the fact that the believer has been ' accepted in the 
beloved,' and is in covenant relations with ' the Father of 
lights.' Until this gift is received, we have no token 
from. God that our sins are blotted out, and we his sons 
and daughters." It is scarcely necessary to remark that 
Dr. Mahan identifies this " sealing " with the " baptism of 
the Holy Ghost," and with entrance into " the higher life." 
Indeed, he adds, " It would evince infinite presumption in 
us to hope in God, and not receive from him, as we may 
do, absolute assurance of the validity of our hope." 

But the passage in Ephesians has no reference to " the 
higher life," as explained by Dr. Mahan. Strictly trans- 
lated, it reads thus : " In whom ye [Gentiles] also, having 
heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, — 
in whom [I say] having also believed [as well as heard] 
ye were sealed with the Holy Spirit of the promise." 
There is no evidence afforded by this text that any in- 
terval of time elapsed between the act of believing and 
the act of sealing. It is, however, not improbable that 
many of the Ephesian converts had received certain ex- 
traordinary gifts by the Spirit at their baptism, and that 
these may be referred to by the apostle ; for, as in the 
case of Cornelius, such gifts would be strong evidence of 
the new life of Christ. If the expression, "Ye were sealed 
with the Holy Spirit " who was promised, was meant for 
all the members of the church in Ephesus, there was but 
one class of Christians there ; but, if it was meant for a 
part of them only, it is most natural to presume that 
those who had received " spiritual gifts " — as the power 



HIGHER CHRISTIAN LIFE EXAMINED. 357 

to speak with tongues or to prophesy — were in the 
apostle's mind. This will be yet more evident when the 
baptism of the Holy Ghost is considered. 

The following remarks of Archbishop Whately appear 
to be very just. After quoting the words of Paul, "Know 
ye not that ye are the temple of the Holy Ghost, which 
dwelleth in you ? " and other passages referring to the in- 
dwelling and sanctifying of the Spirit, he proceeds thus : 
" Now, all this was so opposite to all their former notions, 
so strange to all their habits of thought, that they might 
well need some special assurance of such a doctrine as 
this, — some support against the uneasy doubts and sus- 
picions which might suggest the question, ' Is the Lord 
among us, or not?' And such an assurance was gra- 
ciously afforded them in the sensible testimony of his 
presence, which God displayed by conferring powers mani- 
festly miraculous. Not, however, be it observed, that they 
were to regard their extraordinary gifts as the only or as 
the most important instance of spiritual influence, but as 
the proof and pledge of it. The truly important benefit 
was the salification by the Spirit, with a view to eternal 
life. The miraculous power was the seal and earnest of 
that benefit, — the sign and notification, as it were, that 
the treasure had been bestowed ; not the treasure itself " 
(p. 240, " Essays on Difficulties in the Writings of Paul "). 

The sacred writers do not, then, by their general style 
of address, separate believers in Christ into two great 
classes, one embracing a vast majority of "the saints," 
and the other embracing a small number who have en- 
tered upon " the higher life ; " nor do they point to a trans- 
ition from one of these states to the other by speaking 
of Christians as being " renewed " or " sealed." 



358 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 



Baptism of the Spirit. 

But, in examining the arguments employed by those 
who advocate the doctrine under consideration, another 
question presents itself, viz. : — 

Do the Scriptures speak of a " baptism in the Spirit " 
after regeneration, as something to be expected by all 
Christians to the end of time ? President Mahan, in his 
work on " The Baptism of the Holy Ghost," answers this 
question in the affirmative, with a positiveness of assur- 
ance which might be natural in one who had the gift of 
inspiration. But a repeated and prayerful study of the 
record has constrained the writer to reject this answer, or 
at least to modify it so greatly that Dr. Mahan would find 
it of no service whatever in defending his theory. The 
results of this study will now be given as briefly and 
clearly as possible. 

According to every one of the Evangelists ; John the 
Baptist proclaimed beforehand that his greater successor 
would baptize in the Holy Ghost (Matt. iii. 10, 12 ; Mark 
i. 7, 8 ; Luke iii. 16 ; John i. 33). According to the Gospel 
of John, the Saviour himself promised to send the Advo- 
cate, the Spirit of the truth, after his departure, to the 
disciples, to recall his words to their minds, to show them 
things to come, and to guide them into all the truth (John 
xiv. 26 ; xvi. 13). According to Luke, in his Gospel and in 
the Acts, this " promise of the Spirit " by Christ referred 
to the same thing as the "baptism in the Spirit," predicted 
by the harbinger of Jesus (Luke xxiv. 49 ; Acts i. 4, 5) ; 
and according to Peter this baptism in the Spirit, or power 
from the Holy Ghost, was foretold by the prophet Joel, 
and fulfilled on the day of Pentecost (Acts ii. 16, 33). 



HIGHER CHRISTIAN LIFE EXAMINED. 359 

Let the reader examine for himself the passages quoted 
in support of the statements just made, that he may be 
sure of their meaning. For, if the baptism of the Spirit 
foretold by John was identical with the work of the 
Spirit promised by Christ, it certainly embraced the gift 
of inspiration, and, indeed, the other miraculous gifts of 
the first age. That it included the gift of inspiration, 
may be learned from the description of the Spirit's work 
in the promise of Christ, from the command which the 
apostles received from their Lord to tarry in Jerusalem 
without entering upon their official work until that prom- 
ise was fulfilled, from the miraculous gifts conferred by . 
the Spirit on the day of Pentecost, from Peter's explana- 
tion of the wonders of that day, and from similar gifts 
afterward bestowed. Every one of these points deserves 
earnest consideration. 

Inspiration Described in the Promise. 

The lanomao'e which the Saviour used in describing the 
work of the promised Spirit shows that the giving of 
inspiration was a chief part of that work. "But the 
Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in 
my name, he will teach you all things, and bring to your 
remembrance all things which I said to you." "When 
the Advocate is come, the Spirit of the truth, he will bear 
witness of me. And ye also shall bear witness, because 
ye are with me from the beginning." " I have yet many 
things to say to you, but ye cannot bear them now. But 
when he, the Spirit of the truth, is come, he will guide you 
into all the truth ; for he will not speak from himself, but 
whatsoever he shall hear that will he speak, and he will 
tell you the things to come. He will glorify me ; because 
he will receive of mine, and will tell it to you." 



360 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

This language is perfectly transparent. The promised 
Spirit was to recall and reveal Christian truth to the 
minds of the apostles. Hence he is called in this dis- 
course, and nowhere else in the Bible, "the Spirit of 
the truth ; " that is, the Spirit who should reveal to the 
apostles the whole truth in respect to Christ and the way 
of life through him. A work more sublime, more far- 
reaching, more essential to the purity and power of the 
new religion than this, cannot be imagined. For the 
inspiration of the apostles not only made their teaching 
what it was, clear, spiritual, divine, to men of their own 
time, but it made the New Testament also what it is, a 
source of perfect truth and unspeakable good to men of 
all times. 

Waiting for Inspiration. 

The command which Christ gave his apostles, to tarry 
in Jerusalem, without entering on their appointed work, 
until they had received the promised Spirit, shows that 
inspiration was to be imparted by that Spirit. Luke in- 
forms us that Christ, before his ascension, reminded the 
Eleven, with others, that "repentance and remission of sins 
should be preached in his name among all the nations, 
beginning at Jerusalem;" adding, however, "Behold, 1 
send forth the promise of my Father upon you. But 
tarry ye in the city until ye are endued with power from 
on high." In another place he says that their risen Lord 
" commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to 
wait for the promise of the Father, which ye heard from 
me ; for John indeed baptized with water, but ye shall be 
baptized in the Holy Spirit not many days hence." Now, 
it is plain from the four Gospels that the twelve had very 
incorrect views of their Master's work and kingdom, until 



HIGHER CHRISTIAN LIFE EXAMINED. 361 

after his resurrection from the dead, and, indeed, until 
the day of Pentecost (see Acts i. 6, 7). Not one of them 
appears to have understood the words of the Baptist: 
"Behold, the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of 
the world." And the explanation of this must be found 
in the circumstance that he was a prophet inspired of 
God, while they were not yet inspired. They needed, it 
is true, more faith and love ; but they needed especially, 
as wise master-builders in the kingdom of Christ, a 
thorough and exact knowledge of their Lord's will ; and 
this knowledge could only be imparted by the Spirit. 
This was a gift which in its highest form could be im- 
parted by inspiration alone; and it was thus imparted 
from the day of Pentecost onward to the death of the 
last apostle. Let this be denied, and alas for our confi- 
dence in the Bible as a standard of appeal in respect to 
Christian doctrine or duty ! But it cannot be denied by 
one who fairly weighs the evidence. The gifts of the 
Spirit were bestowed on the primitive Christians " to profit 
withal," and in general not so much for the benefit of the 
recipients as for the good of the entire brotherhood. This 
is taught in the twelfth and fourteenth chapters of the 
First Epistle to the Corinthians. Hence for the apostles 
as the authoritative teachers of the gospel no gift was so 
important as that of inspiration or prophecy. To them, 
because through them to others during the whole history 
of the Church, it was the great Pentecostal gift, qualifying 
them as no other could for their special ministry. It is 
not too much, then, to say that the apostles were required 
to wait for the baptism of the Spirit because they must 
have the gift of inspiration to fit them for their work. 



362 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 



Luke's Account of Pentecost. 

The account which Luke furnishes of the miracle on 
the day of Pentecost shows that " baptism in the Spirit " 
included the gift of inspiration. It is reported by him 
that " a sound out of heaven as of a rushing, mighty wind, 
filled the whole house where they were sitting," and this 
sound might betoken in a general way the coming of the 
Spirit; but it is also said that "there appeared tongues as 
of fire, distributed among them," and these tongues could 
only symbolize a supernatural utterance of truth from 
God. This interpretation is established by the words 
which follow : " And they were all filled with the Holy 
Spirit, and began to speak with other tongues as the 
Spirit gave them utterance." Moreover, it appears that 
the subject of their communication was " the wonderful 
works of God." This description must lead every candid 
reader to suppose that a chief part of the miracle con- 
sisted in imparting to the apostles new views of the 
Lord's work, together with a mysterious power of using 
languages which they had never learned. "That Luke 
designed to state here that the disciples were suddenly 
endued with the power of speaking foreign languages, 
unknown to'them before, would seem to be too manifest 
to admit of any doubt" (Hackett). Paul declares it is 
true that " tongues are for a si<m, not to them that be- 
lieve, but to them that believe not" (1 Cor. xiv. 22); and 
from his account of what they were in the churches at 
the later period when he wrote, it is plain that their 
principal office was to attest the truth of the gospel to 
persons without ; but it is no less evident from the 
narrative of Luke that the highest form of this gift on 



.HIGHER CHRISTIAN LIFE EXAMINED. 363 

the day of Pentecost was also a means of declaring the 
truth to strangers from many nations, and a sign that 
the gospel should be preached to every creature. It 
appears, therefore, that this miraculous endowment was 
an important part of the baptism of the Spirit. 

Peter's Explanation. 

Peter's explanation of the wonders of that day shows 
no less clearly that the inspiration of the apostles was 
included in the baptism of the Spirit. He pronounces 
these wonders a fulfilment of the words of Joel by which 
God promised to pour out his Spirit upon all flesh ; and 
he mentions prophecy not once, but twice, as the chief 
result of that outpouring. Now, the gift of prophecy was 
miraculous, making him who possessed it the mouthpiece 
of God for the time. For in the New Testament, as well 
as in the Old, a prophet is always one who speaks the 
will of God without error. His message is God's message. 
Yet Dr. Mahan, apparently influenced by one doubtful 
passage (1 Cor. xiv. 24), says, " The prophetic power is in 
all such passages, and in other Scriptures, represented as 
the common privilege of all believers." This is a sur- 
prising statement, and the writer can only explain it by 
supposing that Dr. Mahan neglected to verify it by actual 
examination. If there is anything manifest throughout 
the Bible, it is that prophecy was a special gift, limited in 
ordinary circumstances to a very few persons, and never the 
privilege of all. In the earlier years of the apostolic age 
there were, however, for obvious reasons, considerable 
numbers who were occasionally visited by the spirit of 
prophecy. Of these reasons the most important may 
have been the lack of inspired writings to explain the 



364 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION., 

way of life through Christ, and apply the doctrines of the 
gospel to the various questions and emergencies of that 
new way. But the fact is patent, whatever may have 
been the reasons for it, that for a considerable time very 
many in the churches had the gift of prophecy, so that 
they spoke the truth with divine authority, even " as the 
Spirit gave them utterance." And this, if we are guided 
by Peter's interpretation of the Pentecostal miracle, was 
an effect of " baptism in the Spirit." 



Similar Gifts. 

The account of similar gifts afterward bestowed shows 
that inspiration, or miraculous influence of some other 
kind, was included in the baptism of the Spirit. Three 
instances merit particular notice. The first is that of 
Cornelius and his kindred. For the record declares, that, 
while Peter was preaching Christ to them, the Holy 
Spirit fell upon them, and they of the circumcision were 
astonished "because they heard them speaking with 
tongues, and magnifying God." In reporting this miracle 
to the believing Jews in Jerusalem, Peter said, " When I 
began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell upon them, as also 
upon us in the beginning. And I remembered the word 
of the Lord, how he said, John indeed baptized with 
water, but ye shall be baptized in the Holy Spirit." In 
this case, then, baptism in the Holy Spirit included mi- 
raculous gifts. 

The second instance is that of certain disciples whom 
Paul found in Ephesus, and rebaptized. " And Paul, hav- 
ing laid his hands upon them, the Holy Spirit came on 
them ; and they spake with tongues and prophesied." This 
case is just as clear as the preceding. But it must not be 



HIGHER CHRISTIAN LIFE EXAMINED. 365 

passed without noting the use which Dr. Mahan makes 
of the question (Acts xix. 2) : " Have ye received the 
Holy Ghost since ye believed?" For, emphasizing the 
word " since" he infers from this question that the en- 
trance of Christians on " the higher life," by the baptism 
of the Holy Spirit, was some time after their conversion, 
and was an almost universal experience. But according 
to the versions of the "Bible Union," Alford, Noyes, 
Hackett, and indeed of all competent interpreters, the 
question should be translated, " Did ye receive the Holy 
Spirit when ye believed?" President Mahan seems to 
have relied too confidently on the common version of 
this passage. 

The third instance is that of the Samaritan converts. 
They had believed in Christ, as preached by Philip, and 
had been baptized. Simon the sorcerer also professed to 
believe, and was baptized ; and, continuing with Philip, he 
wondered at the miracles and signs which were wrought. 
Then Peter and John came down to Samaria, prayed for 
the baptized disciples that they might receive the Holy 
Spirit, and, laying their hands upon them, the desired 
gift came. That it was followed and manifested by 
speaking with tongues, or some other miraculous activity, 
is to be concluded from the attempt of Simon to purchase 
the power of communicating the same gift. 

Two remarks may be added : First, in the baptism of 
the Holy Spirit, extraordinary powers were bestowed in 
addition to the ordinary sanctifying work of the Spirit. 
These powers were conferred upon none but true believers, 
in the apostolic age ; hence the confidence of Peter in the 
conversion of Cornelius, and in his full acceptance by the 
Lord. And, second, immersion in the Holy Spirit, re- 
garded as a figurative expression, could only be applied 



366 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

to the largest measure of the Spirit's influence ; and 
therefore if there were special and visible effects in any 
instances, superadded to his sanctifying work in the 
heart, these instances would naturally be distinguished 
from others, and called baptisms in the Spirit. 

The writer has now attempted to answer from the 
Word of God four important questions : namely, 1. Do 
the Scriptures separate Christians into two classes, or 
grades, as is done by the doctrine of " the higher life " ? 
2. Do they speak of a "renewal" of Christians, subse- 
quent and analogous to their regeneration, as taught by 
the doctrine of " the higher life " ? 3. Do they speak of 
certain Christians as being " sealed " by the Spirit after 
their regeneration, as this is taught by the doctrine of 
" the higher life " ? 4. Do they speak of " baptism in the 
Holy Spirit," after regeneration, as something to be ex- 
pected by all Christians to the end of time ? All these 
questions have been answered in the negative. It has 
been shown that the " baptism of the Holy Spirit," pre- 
dicted by Joel and John the Baptist, but promised and 
conferred by Christ himself, imparted miraculous gifts to 
its subjects, and among these the gift of prophecy, which 
rendered its possessor an ultimate authority in respect to 
the doctrines taught by him. It was also remarked that 
most of these gifts were not bestowed for the special 
good of the recipient, but for the benefit of the whole 
Christian body, which was then small and weak, imper- 
fectly trained, and without inspired documents teaching 
the new faith. 

It may now be added that Paul recognizes the opera- 
tion of the Holy Spirit, by which faith, hope, and love 
are produced in the heart as the greatest personal bless- 
ing enjoyed by the servants of Christ, inasmuch as it is 



HIGHER CHRISTIAN LIFE EXAMINED. 367 

the source of those graces which are necessary to all 
Christians in all ages, world without end (1 Cor. xiii.). 
It may also be remarked that none of those Christians, 
or Christian bodies, that have claimed the gift of miracles, 
of tongues, of prophec} T , or of infallibility, have added 
any valuable truth to the doctrines revealed in the New 
Testament, or have proved themselves through any long 
period of time better workers for the Master than others 
who disclaim the possession of such gifts. The early 
Montanists, the popes and saints of the Middle Ages, the 
followers of Edward Irving, and many others perhaps, 
will occur to the reader as illustrating the truth of this 
remark. If, however, it should be said by those who 
profess to enjoy " the higher life," that they do not lay 
claim to miraculous powers of any kind, and therefore 
ought not to be classed with the parties just named, it 
must be responded, that, while saying this, they should 
not profess to have been "baptized in the Holy Spirit," 
nor apply to themselves those texts which refer to this 
baptism. But, if they gave up their appeal to these pas- 
sages, there will be none left with which to establish the 
doctrine of a sudden " renewal " of Christians after the 
time • of their regeneration. 

It must be remarked, still further, that there are in the 
Xew Testament some indications of a gradual decrease 
of " the gifts " of the Spirit in the apostolic age. This 
appears from a comparison of the qualifications which 
were prescribed by the apostles for the seven deacons 
(see Acts vi. 3-8), with those required at a much later 
period for bishops and deacons (1 Tim. iii. ; Tit. i.). The 
latter passages are indeed surprisingly inconsistent with 
the doctrine of " the higher life." For, if this doctrine be 
true, the possession of " the higher life " would seem to 



368 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

be the first and most indispensable qualification for office 
in the Church ; but none of the expressions which are 
supposed to denote this life are used by the apostle in 
describing the persons who were fit to be made pastors 
or deacons. This omission is perfectly explained -by sup- 
posing that "baptism in the Holy Spirit" conferred mi- 
raculous powers, as that of speaking with tongues, of 
prophesying, of healing the sick, and that these extraor- 
dinary gifts, having served their purpose, were now for 
the most part withdrawn from the Church; but on no 
other hypothesis can it be readily accounted for. It is 
therefore safe to assume that the most conspicuous spirit- 
ual gifts had begun to decrease, while such qualities as 
faith, experience, wisdom, aptness to teach, sobriety, hos- 
pitality, and the like were set in the foreground. 

Objections Considered. 

But there are ojections to the view which has now 
been given of " baptism in the Holy Ghost ; " and the 
reader's attention may properly be directed to one or two 
of them. The first is drawn from a remarkable passage 
in the Gospel of John (vii. 37-39) : " In the last day, that 
great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If 
any man thirst, let him come unto me and drink. He 
that believeth on me, as said the Scriptures, out of his 
belly shall flow rivers of living water. And this he 
spoke concerning the Spirit, which they that believe on 
him should receive ; for the Spirit was not yet [given] 
because Jesus was not yet glorified." These verses 
are supposed to teach, by implication if not directly, 
that "baptism in the Holy Spirit" is assured to all 
Christians upon the exercise of suitable faith. But it 



HIGHER CHRISTIAN LIFE EXAMINED. 369 

should be observed that the words of Christ are a predic- 
tion of what will be, not of what may be. They assert 
that rivers of living water will flow from the inner being, 
or heart, of him who believes in Jesus, and, indeed, of 
every one who believes in him. Nothing is said of pecu- 
liar faith, or of faith in any particular promise : belief 
in Christ is the only condition named or suggested. The 
soul of the believer is to be a fountain of spiritual life, 
springing up and overflowing in streams of blessing to 
the world. The sacred writer goes on to say that the 
promise of Christ referred to the work of the Spirit 
which was to be accomplished in the hearts of believers 
after the glorification of the Lord. This explanation 
shows that the spiritual life, joy, and influence of be- 
lievers were to be greatly increased by the more power- 
ful working of the Holy Spirit, after the ascension of 
Christ. And this was certainly true from the day of 
Pentecost onward. But if it was true of all Christians, 
or of Christians generally, — the work of the Spirit rising 
in power and blessedness with the increase of knowledge 
among believers, — there is no foundation in this passage 
for a division of the faithful, since the time of Christ, into 
two classes, according to the theory of " the higher life." 
And if it was not true of all Christians, as compared with 
godly men before the day of Pentecost, then it may be 
referred most naturally to such as received extraordinary 
gifts to qualify them for extraordinary duties in the apos- 
tolic age. Though the writer is ready to accept the for- 
mer explanation, he believes the latter to be far more 
reasonable than the view maintained by the advocates of 
the doctrine of " the higher life." Indeed, the latter in- 
terpretation brings the passage into line with all those 
which speak distinctly of the baptism of the Holy Spirit, 

24 



370 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

and therefore has much in its favor. But the former in- 
terpretation is not inconsistent with anything said re- 
specting " baptism in the Spirit," while it agrees with the 
apparently universal application of the Lord's promise. 
And according to this view the work of the Holy Spirit 
in the hearts of believers, producing love, joy, peace, and 
the other Christian graces, is more powerful and fruitful 
since the exaltation of Christ than it was before. The 
same is true of his work in bestowing special gifts, 
though the latter were limited to a part of believers in 
the first age of the Church. Hence the passage in ques- 
tion furnishes no real basis for the doctrine of two dis- 
tinct grades of Christian life. 

A second objection to the view which has been taken of 
" baptism in the Holy Spirit " is drawn from certain ex- 
pressions in the wonderful discourse of Christ with his 
disciples during the evening before his agony. For he 
spoke of the Father as about to give them another Com- 
forter, who should "abide with them forever," and of the 
Comforter as about to " convince the world of sin, of right- 
eousness, and of judgment" (John xiv. 16, xvi. 8). Both 
these expressions seem to look beyond the Eleven ; the 
former to those who should believe through their word, 
and the latter to persons who should have their con- 
sciences enlightened through the Spirit's work. But, while 
this is freely admitted, it does not follow that the Holy 
Spirit was to do the same thing for all believers in the 
first age. " Are all apostles ? Are all prophets ? Do all 
speak with tongues ? " "There are diversities of gifts, but 
the same Spirit." The twelfth and fourteenth chapters of 
the First Epistle to the Corinthians afford conclusive evi- 
dence of the fact that the Advocate may abide with saints 
to the end of time, and yet none but those of the first age 



HIGHER CHRISTIAN LIFE EXAMINED. 371 

be " baptized in the Spirit," and thus endowed with ex- 
traordinary gifts in addition to ordinary grace. The gift 
of prophecy or inspiration was certainly needed by the 
apostles, and perhaps by others in the primitive church ; 
but when the whole substance of Christian truth had been 
put in writing, and placed in the hands of believers scat- 
tered over the Eoman world, it is not easy to see what 
further purpose could be served by perpetuating that gift. 
And the same may be said of other miraculous gifts. 
Plainly, then, the work of the Spirit, by which extraor- 
dinary powers were conferred on some members of the 
early churches, might cease with the apostolic age, while 
the work of the same Spirit in other forms adapted to 
the needs of the saints might continue until the second 
coming of Christ. Hence the expressions quoted from 
the last discourse of Christ do not amount to an objection 
against the view which has been taken in this discussion 
of " baptism in the Spirit." But if that view remains un- 
shaken, no argument can be drawn from passages which 
refer to that baptism, in support of the doctrine that 
Christians are divisible into two classes, one of them com- 
posed of simple believers who have been justified through 
faith, and the other composed of " renewed " believers who 
have been sanctified through faith. 

Here our examination of the first distinctive point in 
the doctrine of " the higher life " may be closed ; for it 
has been shown that the Scriptures do not agree with the 
doctrine in question at that point by recognizing the two 
grades of Christian life which are asserted by it. 



372 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 



Degree of Sanctification Claimed. 

The second feature of this doctrine, which merits close 
examination, is the estimate which it puts on the moral 
state of those who enjoy " the higher life." For whether 
this state is described as " the rest of faith," " perfect trust," 
" assurance of present salvation," " perfect love," " evan- 
gelical holiness," " Christian perfection," " entire sanctifi- 
cation," " Christian purity," or " freedom from sin," some- 
thing more appears to be claimed by those who use one, 
or all, of these expressions in explaining their own state, 
than either the Word of God or the history of the Chris- 
tian religion authorizes them to claim. It is believed 
that, owing to incorrect views of sin, or of the divine 
method of sanctification, they imagine themselves to have 
reached a higher degree of inward purity than they have 
really attained. If their views of sin and of the divine 
method of grace are plainly Scriptural, the interpretation 
which they put upon their own spiritual state may be 
correct ; but if they misunderstand the teaching of God's 
Word in respect to the holiness possessed by Christians 
in this life, there is no reason to suppose that the inter- 
pretation which they give of their own experience is right. 
In other words, every type or form of religious experience 
must be tested by the Sacred Oracles ; not by single ex- 
pressions, laid hold of and emphasized without regard to 
others which may modify or explain their sense, but by 
the whole teaching of the Scriptures in respect to such 
experience. 

No man who accepts the Bible as true can doubt that, 
in the sense intended by the Saviour and his apostles, 
Christ " will draw all men " to himself, and " in the name 



HIGHER CHRISTIAN LIFE EXAMINED. 373 

of Jesus every knee shall bow, of those in heaven, and 
those on earth, and those under the earth ; " but it would 
be easy for one studying these expressions, apart from 
others that modify or explain them, to draw from them a 
doctrine inconsistent with other portions of the Bible, 
namely, the doctrine of universal salvation. So likewise 
every man who receives the Scriptures as true must be- 
lieve that, in the sense intended by the sacred writers, 
" Enoch walked with God," and " pleased God," that Noah, 
Job, David, and many other ancient saints, as well as Paul 
and many of the primitive Christians, were "perfect;" 
and that all believers in Jesus are " sanctified " and 
"holy;" but it would be easy for any one, looking at 
these expressions by themselves, and disregarding the 
light which others cast upon them, to attribute to the 
good men referred to a degree of moral purity and excel- 
lence which they did not possess. 

Once more, it is certain that the words of the sacred 
writer in Heb. iv. 3, — " For we that have believed do 
enter into the rest" promised of old to the people of God, 
— are true in the sense intended by him ; but whether 
they refer to a state fully realized in the present life, or 
to a state partially realized here and completely hereafter, 
or to a " rest that remaineth to the people of God " in 
heaven, is to be ascertained not by an appeal to Christian 
experience, but by a careful study of the whole context, 
if not of the whole Bible. The Christian may, indeed, 
justly appeal to experience in proof of his enjoying a 
certain rest of soul in this life ; but, whether it is the 
whole or even a part of that rest which is spoken of in 
the fourth chapter of the Epistle to the Hebrews, can 
only be learned from the passage itself properly inter- 
preted. The friends of the doctrine now in question will 



374 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

agree with the writer in what has been said on this point, 
and must therefore naturally expect their fellow-Chris- 
tians to rely upon the testimony of Scripture, as to the 
moral state of saints on earth, rather than upon the testi- 
mony of those who profess to enjoy " the rest of faith." 

Description of the Higher Life. 

But what is " the higher life " as explained by those 
who profess to know it by experience ? What is the 
degree of sanctification, purity, or love, which constitutes 
it ? " Many who profess to have attained it," says a 
Presbyterian, Eev. A. C. Jenkin, D.D., " affirm that in 
consequence of their abiding in Christ by faith, and a 
realization and consciousness of his dwelling in them by 
his Spirit, they possess the assurance of a present salva- 
tion ; and thus resting in Jesus day by day, and moment 
by moment, they are delivered from sin and freed from 
anxious cares and burdens, and enjoy a sweet, uninter- 
rupted sense of God's favor and communion." Speaking 
for Presbyterians he says, " Its advocates and confessors 
do not say they are sinless ; they disclaim any goodness 
or righteousness in themselves. They attribute all to 
Christ; he makes and keeps them whole. . . . The soul 
finds in him all that it needs. ... It is complete in him. 
It puts on Christ, and then it rests, trusting in him to do 
his own work, that of saving to the uttermost ; and while 
thus trusting it is saved. ... As certainly as he cast out 
devils and healed the leprous, so certainly he can cast out 
evil tempers, and make us every whit whole, according as 
we trust in him from day to day." 

Another writer, Judge T. 0. Lowe, says, " Very many 
of those dear saints of God testified that, through the 



HIGHER CHRISTIAN LIFE EXAMINED. 375 

overcoming power of the living Christ within, they were 
delivered from all save an occasional sense of condemna- 
tion, and had found in him relief from a life made up of 
conscious sinning and repenting." Still another, E. P. 
Smith, remarks, " We cannot claim any perfection beyond 
this, that up to the furthest line of to-day's conscious- 
ness we have the witness that we do love God and our 
brethren, and keep a conscience void of offence. ... It is 
not perfect knowledge, perfect wisdom, or perfect attain- 
ment, but simply a perfect heart — that is, a heart yield- 
ing without reserve to God — to walk in entire obedience 
and perfect trust." 

Another, Eev. Asa Mahan, D.D., declares that, if we 
are in "the higher life," "we shall serve God without 
fear, in righteousness and true holiness, all the days of 
our lives." The same writer admits, " On a very few ques- 
tions in moral philosophy and theology, Brother Finney 
and myself have arrived at opposite conclusions ; " but 
adds, " We differ just where minds under the influence of 
the purest integrity and the highest form of divine illu- 
mination ( ! ) are liable to differ." An illumination, we 
suppose, like that of Paul or John ! 

In answer to the question, " Whom, then, do you mean 
by one that is perfect ? " Mr. Wesley says, " We mean 
one in whom is ' the mind which was in Christ,' and who 
so ' walketh as Christ also walked,' . . . one in whom is 
' no occasion of stumbling,' and who, accordingly, ' doth 
not commit sin.' ... He is ' holy as God who called him 
is holy,' both in heart and in all manner of conversation." 
And in reply to the question, "When may a person judge 
himself to have attained this ? " he says, " When, after 
having been fully convinced of inbred sin, by a far 
deeper and clearer conviction than that he experienced 



376 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

before justification, and after having experienced a gradual 
mortification of it, he experienced a total death to sin, 
and an entire witness of the renewal : I judge it as 
impossible this man should be deceived herein as that 
God should lie." 

Another Methodist, Eev. K. S. Foster, D.D., defines the 
life in question thus : " We believe it a Christian's privi- 
lege to attain to a state in which he will be entirely free 
from sin, properly so called, both inward and outward, — 
a state in which he will do no act involving guilt, in 
which he will possess no unholy temper, in which the 
entire outward man of the life, and the entire inward 
man of the heart, will be pure in the sight of God." He 
also says of "entire holiness," as possessed by some in 
this life, " We believe it to include, in the second place, 
the spiritual graces, as love, meekness, humility, and 
such like, in perfection, — perfection, not of measure, but 
of kind. ' . . These graces exist in the entirely sanctified 
soul without alloy, without mixture, . . . and in measure 
corresponding to the present capacity of the soul pos- 
sessing them." 

These extracts set forth with sufficient clearness the 
degree of moral purity which is claimed by many if not 
by all of those who profess to enjoy " the higher life." 
Such as use the most guarded language assert that they 
have " a serenity of conscience only rarely and at length- 
ening intervals disturbed," and that this serenity of 
conscience is the result of being "saved from conscious 
transgression." One of these objects to the " doctrine " of 
Methodists on this subject, while he indorses their "ex- 
perience." He thinks they lower the standard of holiness 
prescribed by the law of God, until it agrees with their 
own experience ; and therefore claim to be saved from 



* HIGHER CHRISTIAN LIFE EXAMINED. 377 

all sins, when they should only claim to be saved from 
conscious transgression. 

The criticism of this writer seems to be just, so far as 
it goes, but it stops short of the whole truth ; for the 
requirements of the divine law are so comprehensive and 
spiritual that no man can test his inward life by that law, 
without perceiving that he is a transgressor. If he fails 
to meet the exact, the utmost demands of that law, as 
set before him in the Scriptures, he is not saved from 
conscious transgression. When, for example, he is com- 
manded to be holy, because God is holy, the standard is 
one of absolute moral perfection ; and, measuring himself 
and others by it, he will see that the words of Christ are 
profoundly true, " There is none good but one, that is, 
God;" as if Christ had said to the young ruler, "By 
comparing yourself with any man, however upright and 
devout, you compare yourself with one who is morally 
imperfect, with a sinner ; while the only true standard 
of right character for man is the holy character of God." 
The same result will be reached, if he tests himself by 
the two great commands of the law : " Thou shalt love 
the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy 
soul, and with all thy mind ; " and, " Thou shalt love thy 
neighbor as thyself." For, what is it to love God with 
all the heart, and soul, and mind ? It is to love him as 
purely and intensely and constantly as a being of the 
same capacity, but without the least taint of evil in the 
heart to weaken, cloud, or interrupt the ardors of holy 
affection, could love him. It is to love him with the 
whole force of the soul, undiminished by the least rem- 
nant of selfishness. For moral weakness does not reduce 
moral obligation. If it did, Satan would be under almost 
infinitely less obligation to love God than Gabriel, and, 



378 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

the farther any being advanced in sin, the less of service 
would be due from him to his Maker. The law, as a 
standard of right and duty, has not been modified by the 
work of Christ ; it has rather been honored and sustained. 
The theory of one law for angels, another for Adam be- 
fore the Fall, and still another for believers in Christ, is 
without any foundation in the Word of God. It is impos- 
sible to doubt that the law for all moral beings, in all 
worlds, is one and the same. To. love God with all the 
spiritual ardor and energy of their undivided being is 
their simple duty. 

If the lessons of history may be trusted, the doctrine 
and experience of " the higher life," as it is called, have a 
strong tendency to merge themselves in the doctrine and 
experience of " sinless perfection." And at the present 
time many distinguished advocates of the former are 
equally positive in their belief of the latter. An attempt 
must therefore be made to answer the question, Do any 
Christians live without sin in this world ? All are com- 
manded to do so by an authority inseparable from their 
moral being, — by the voice of conscience in their souls. 
This voice forbids every feeling, purpose, and act that is 
wrong, and enjoins perfect and perpetual rectitude in 
heart, as well as in life. No less clearly does the law of 
God, as set forth in the Bible, require of all a life without 
sin ; for it commands them to be perfect or holy, while it 
brings forward the character of God as the standard of 
holiness. But do the sacred writers teach us that any or 
all believers in Christ obey the law of God completely in 
this life, so that they are free from transgression as well 
as from condemnation ? 



HIGHER CHRISTIAN LIFE EXAMINED. 379 

SCRIPTURAL PROOFS EXAMINED. 

Sixth of Romans. 

The question at the close of the previous section may 
be answered in the affirmative as to all Christians, if 
certain expressions of the New Testament are understood 
in the broadest and highest sense, without regard to other 
expressions which qualify and explain them. Thus, in 
the sixth chapter of the Epistle to the Romans, Paul says, 
" Our old man was crucified with him, that the body of 
sin might be destroyed, in order that we should no longer 
be in bondage to sin. . . . Reckon ye yourselves to be 
dead indeed to sin, but alive to God through Jesus Christ. 
. . . Being made free from sin, ye became servants of 
righteousness." Do not these expressions teach that the 
primitive disciples lived without sin ? They were told 
to remember that their "old man was crucified," and 
urged to " account themselves dead to sin," and " made 
free from sin," but "alive to God," and "servants of 
righteousness." 

True : but this language was addressed " to all the 
beloved of God in Rome ; " and therefore, if it teaches 
that any of them were living without sin, it teaches that 
all of them were living thus, — a perfect church, holy 
as Christ was holy, in thought and word and deed. But 
why, then, was this sixth chapter written ? Why ask 
of such saints, " Shall we continue in sin that grace may 
abound ? " " Shall we sin because we are not under law, 
but under grace ? " Why say, " I speak after the manner 
of men, because of the infirmity of your flesh " ? Why 
exhort them, "Let not sin reign in your mortal body, 
that ye should obey the lusts thereof " ? There is no 



380 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

evidence in this chapter, rightly interpreted, that any 
Christian in Rome was living without sin, though there 
is evidence that all Christians were living without con- 
demnation, having entered upon a new life in which the 
love of God and of righteousness were expected to bear 
rule. 

Eighth of Romans. 

Passing now to the eighth chapter of the same epistle, 
we find these words : " The law of the Spirit of life in 
Christ Jesus made me free " — at the time of my regen- 
eration — " from the law of sin and death. For what 
the law could not do, in that it was weak through the 
flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful 
flesh, and for sin condemned sin in the flesh ; that the 
requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who 
walk not according to the flesh, but according to the 
Spirit." This language, taken by itself, might be under- 
stood to affirm that Paul, and others in whom " the law 
of the Spirit of life " was operative, were made free from 
all sin in feeling and conduct, being led by the Spirit 
to fulfil the requirements of the law of holy living. But 
a careful examination of the whole chapter will convince 
any one that this is not the apostle's meaning. For he 
is not speaking in this chapter of a particular class of 
Christians, but rather of the state of all true Christians. 
Hence he says in this connection, "Ye are not in the 
flesh, but in the Spirit, if, indeed, the Spirit of God 
dwelleth in you." But may not this indwelling of the 
Spirit, by which Christians were proved to be in the 
Spirit, have been limited to a certain number of the 
saints who were enjoying " the higher life " ? By no 
means ; for the apostle adds in the same verse, " If any 



HIGHER CHRISTIAN LIFE EXAMINED. 381 

man hath not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his." 
Every person, therefore, who truly belongs to Christ by 
regeneration, has the Spirit of God in his soul ; and one 
aspect of his experience is described by the eighth of 
Eomans. The next verse strongly confirms this view : 
" And if Christ is in you," by his Spirit, " the body 
indeed is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life be- 
cause of righteousness ; " a statement in perfect harmony 
with the last verse of the seventh chapter : " So, then, 
I myself with the mind serve the law of God, but with 
the flesh the law of sin." For Paul does not say, " the 
body is mortal because of sin," but rather it is dead, 
since the old and sinful nature still exists in the man 
whose heart has been renewed and made the dwelling- 
place of the Holy Ghost. Hence there is evermore 
reason for believers in Christ to " mortify the deeds 
of the body," that is, to slay the deeds of their sinful 
nature ; and in proportion as they do this, under the 
leadership of the Divine Spirit, will they truly live. 
Accordingly the object of Paul in the eighth chapter of 
this epistle is to show that the Christian is not left to 
contend with his evil nature by the simple force of holy 
purpose in his renewed heart, but that he is assured 
of victory by the presence and power of the Spirit of 
Christ. Left to himself he would be no match for the 
strength of sin in his old nature ; but by union with 
Christ he is not only set free from condemnation, but 
also strengthened with might by the Spirit, and set for- 
ward every day on the way to complete victory over 
sin. But these three circumstances, that Paul represents 
all Christians as being in the Spirit ; that he affirms 
their body, or old nature, to be still " dead," or unre- 
newed, un quickened, though the spirit has been made 



382 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

alive ; and that he assumes the necessity on their part 
of mortifying the deeds of the body, prove that he did 
not look upon any Christians as living without sin. 

Other Strong Expressions. 

Similar expressions may be found in the letters of Paul 
to the Corinthians. In his first letter he addresses the 
members of " the Church of God which is in Corinth," 
as " sanctified in Christ Jesus, called, holy ; " and in the 
sixth chapter, after speaking of fornicators, idolaters, 
thieves, drunkards, and the like, he adds these words : 
" And such were some of you ; but ye were washed, but 
ye were sanctified, but ye were justified in the name of 
the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God." It would, 
however, be a strange kind of interpretation that would 
find in these words evidence that any or all of the 
Corinthian Christians had at any time lived without 
sin ; for the whole aim of the epistle is to correct errors, 
restore harmony, and advance purity in the Church. 
Just as little, therefore, can the striking words of the 
second epistle, "If any one is in Christ he is a new 
creature ; old things are passed away ; behold all things 
have become new," J prove that all persons are made per- 
fectly holy by regeneration. A holy principle is cer- 
tainly implanted in their souls, but much of evil still 
remains. The change is great, and there is nothing 
which it does not affect; yet the sinful nature still 
exists, though it is felt to be a grief and a burden, a foe 
and a snare. 

1 Revised Version, " they are become new." 



HIGHER CHRISTIAN LIFE EXAMINED. 383 



First Epistle of John. 

But Paul is not alone in his use of language which 
needs to be taken in a qualified sense. John resembles 
him greatly in this respect, as will be seen by a glance 
at his first epistle. He says of Christ, that "he was 
manifested that he might take away sins ; and in him is 
no sin. Every one that abideth in him sinneth not ; 
whosoever sinneth hath not seen him, neither known 
him. He that committeth sin is of the devil. Whoso- 
ever hath been begotten of God doth not commit sin, 
because his seed abideth in him ; and he cannot sin, 
because he hath been begotten of God." In another 
passage he writes, "Ye have an unction from the Holy 
One, and ye know all things," or, " ye all know." 

Now, these expressions seem to teach, not that some, 
but that all Christians live without sin, that the holy 
seed implanted in their hearts makes it impossible for 
them to commit sin, and that the anointing of the Holy 
One secures to them all a knowledge of Christian truth. 
But such an interpretation of his words makes John 
contradict himself again and again in the same letter, 
and supposes him to be blind to the actions of those who 
bore the name of Christ. His language must therefore 
be supposed to set forth the character and working of the 
new disposition originated by the Holy Spirit, or else 
to describe the normal and ideal life of the renewed soul. 
In the former case it is explained by a remark in the 
fifth chapter, " His commandments are not grievous ; 
because all that is begotten of God overcometh the 
world ; and this is the victory that overcometh the 
world, our faith." In other words, whatever may be 



384 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

in the Christian's nature, the new principle of faith, 
begotten of God by the Spirit, is holy and victorious, 
giving character to the man as a servant of Christ. 
The language of John, thus explained, reminds one 
of the distinction which Paul makes, in the seventh 
chapter of Komans and elsewhere, between his " inner 
man," or true self, and his " old man," or " body of 
sin." 

Slightly different is the view of Alford : " The plain 
words of the apostle must be held fast, and explained by 
the analogy of his way of speaking throughout the epis- 
tle of the ideal reality of the life of God and the life 
of sin as absolutely excluding one another. ... If the 
child of God falls into sin, it is an act against nature, 
deadly to life, hardly endured, and bringing bitter repent- 
ance." This is the second interpretation named above. 
Should both of these be rejected as unsatisfactory, it will 
nevertheless be necessary to concede with all interpre- 
ters that John does not intend to affirm the actual sin- 
lessness of all Christians, much less the impossibility of 
their committing sin ; for such an affirmation would be 
wholly inconsistent with his own language in chapters 
first and second ; namely, " If we " who are Christians 
" say that we have not sin, we deceive ourselves, and the 
truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful 
and righteous to forgive us our sins, and," by so doing, 
" cleanse us from all unrighteousness. . . . My little chil- 
dren, these things I write unto you that ye may not sin. 
And if any one sin," that is, shall have sinned, " we have 
an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous." 
After using such language as this, it is preposterous to 
suppose that John would represent any or all believers 
as living without sin. 



HIGHER CHRISTIAN LIFE EXAMINED. 385 

It lias now been shown that some of the strongest 
affirmations of the holiness of Christians in the New 
Testament apply to all believers, but do not, properly 
interpreted, affirm their lives to be free from sin. 

Still Other Passages. 

But with these affirmations are often coupled a few 
passages which are thought to imply the fact that entire 
freedom from sin may be reached at almost any point 
of time in a Christian's earthly life, or at least long 
before its close. 

Among these is the command to be perfect or holy, 
thus: "Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father 
which is in heaven is perfect ; " and, " As he that 
called you is holy, be ye also holy in all conduct; be- 
cause it is written, Ye shall be holy because I am 
holy ; " together with the exhortation of Paul, " Be ye 
therefore imitators of God, as children beloved." Of 
what use are precepts and exhortations, it is asked, if 
Christians are never to comply with them ? The law 
was given to Christians to be obeyed, and it is surely 
safe to conclude that it can and will be obeyed by some 
in this life. 

To this it must be answered that it is manifestly un- 
safe to infer the moral perfection of even a few Chris- 
tians from the circumstance that all are commanded or 
exhorted to be perfect. It would be quite as logical to 
assume that all Christians obey the law completely from 
the hour of their conversion, as to assume that some 
obey it thus for a month or a year. But the premise 
warrants neither conclusion. If a moral law be given 
by the Most High, it must naturally be a perfect rule 

25 



386 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

of right, whether it be kept by many or by none. 
Nor can it be pronounced useless, though it be kept 
by none. It may be of great service because it reveals 
the right, or what Christians ought to be and to do, 
and because it shows to those who are saved by Christ 
the degree of sin still in their hearts and lives, to- 
gether with the wondrous grace of God to his wayward 
children. 

In other passages we are told that God desires the 
sanctification of believers. Thus Paul writes to the 
Thessalonians (1 Thess. iv. 3), " This is the will of God, 
your sanctification ; " and it is argued that God will im- 
part to his children what he wishes them to have. It is 
even suggested that if none of them are sanctified fully 
before the hour of death, it must be because God is 
either unable or unwilling thus to sanctify them. But 
are we not assured by the same apostle that it is the will 
of God that " all men should be saved and come to the 
knowledge of the truth " (1 Tim. ii. 4) ? And would it 
not be hasty reasoning to conclude from this language 
that all men will be saved ? Besides, it may be truly 
said that God wishes not only that some Christians, but 
that all Christians, and indeed all moral beings in the 
universe, should be wholly free from sin, from this in- 
stant onward through eternal ages ; nay, that he has 
always wished this in respect to all such beings ; but we 
do not therefore conclude that there will be no more sin, 
or that there never has been sin. Moreover, it should be 
observed that the sanctification specially referred to by 
Paul in his letter to the Thessalonians is somewhat re- 
stricted by the context ; for it consists, first, in refraining 
from fornication and adultery, and secondly, in entering 
the marriage state with a pure and honorable mind, not 



HIGHER CHRISTIAN LIFE EXAMINED. 387 

in the passion of desire. 1 Hence the passage sets forth 
what Christians ought to do in obedience to the will 
of God, not what he proposes to do in their hearts. 
Yet in doing this they have the gift and aid of his 
Holy Spirit, 

In still other passages, apostolic prayer for the entire 
sanctification of believers is appealed to as implying the 
fact of complete freedom from sin in certain instances. 
Thus in 1 Thess. v. 23 : " But may the God of peace him- 
self sanctify you wholly (or throughout) ; and may your 
spirit and soul and body be preserved whole without 
blame in the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ." This last 
clause is very important, as is likewise the next sentence : 
" Faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it." 
This is Ellicott's translation ; and with it may be com- 
pared his rendering of 1 Thess. iii. 12, 13 : "But you may 
the Lord make to increase and abound in your love one 
towards another and towards all [men], even as we also 
[do] towards you ; to the end he may stablish your hearts 
•unblamable in holiness in the presence of God and our 
Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, with all 
his saints." See also 1 Cor. i. 7-9 : " So that ye are behind 
in no gift, waiting for the revelation of our Lord Jesus 
Christ ; who will also confirm you unto the end blameless 
in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ, Faithful is God, 
by whom ye were called into the fellowship of his Son 
Jesus Christ our Lord." (Cf. Jude 24.) It seems to be evi- 
dent that the entire sanctification, or the sanctification of 
the whole man, spoken of in these and other passages of 
like purport, is to be found accomplished at the coming 
of Christ ; but neither of the passages proves more than 

1 But see Professor Stevens's interpretation of this passage in " An 
American Commentary on the Xew Testament."' 



388 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

this. They do not seem to imply that this work will be 
done before the hour of death, so that men will live for 
a time without any sin in this world. Besides, if the 
mere circumstance that the apostles prayed for the entire 
sanctification of believers proves that some of them will 
be thus sanctified in this life, why does it not prove that 
all of them will have the same blessing ? In his letter 
to the Thessalonians Paul says, " May the God of peace 
himself sanctify you throughout," — you, not some of 
you ; the whole of the Church, not a part of it. And 
he adds, " Faithful is he that calleth you, who also will 
do it." His prayer was that God would sanctify them 
wholly ; and that prayer he was certain the Lord would 
answer, doubtless because he knew it was God's plan 
and purpose to keep his own, and render them perfect 
before the day of Christ. 

Paul's Experience. 

In reply to the question, Do any Christians live without 
sin in the present state ? reference has been made to sev- 
eral expressions of the New Testament which seem at 
first sight to affirm this. But they affirm it, if at all, not 
of a particular grade of believers in Christ, but of all 
without distinction who are his. And this circumstance 
proves that they were never meant to be taken in their 
full sense as descriptive of the actual life of Christians 
yet in the flesh. For, thus interpreted, they would con- 
tradict the manifest purpose of the writings in which they 
are found, as well as the experience of good men in every 
age of the Church. It will be recollected that the expres- 
sions referred to occur in the letters of Paul and of John ; 
and if these apostles, when speaking of Christians in gen- 
eral, sometimes used language which taken by itself could 



HIGHER CHRISTIAN LIFE EXAMINED. 389 

be misunderstood, they may perhaps have done the same 
thing when speaking of themselves. And as those who 
profess to enjoy " the higher life " believe that these two 
apostles had experience of the same life through grace, it 
is necessary to look at their statements concerning the 
work of God in themselves. 

A beginning may be made with what Paul has said of 
his life before God was pleased to call him by his grace, 
and reveal his Son in him ; for this examination will be 
of service in showing his style, or use of language. In 
his defence before Agrippa he asserts that he once thought 
it his duty to do many things contrary to the name of 
Jesus, and that in pursuance of this conviction he " shut 
up many of the saints in prisons," and " when they were 
put to death gave his voice against them ; " also that he 
" constrained some of them to blaspheme," and, " being 
exceedingly mad against them, persecuted them also unto 
foreign cities " (Acts xxvi. 9-11). Now, can it reasonably 
be supposed that he had no risings of doubt as to the 
guilt of those whom he so furiously persecuted, and as to 
his own duty in thus proceeding against them ? Did he 
mean to affirm anything more than his general, .though 
blind and passionate sense of duty in this terrible work ? 
And when he afterward said that he was a " blasphemer 
and a persecutor," and had obtained mercy because of his 
ignorance and unbelief ; when he called himself " chief 
of sinners," and declared that for this cause he obtained 
mercy, that in him " first Christ Jesus might show forth 
all his long-suffering" (1 Tim. i. 13, seq.), — did he not 
intend to charge himself with real and great guilt ? 

Again, in his letter to the Philippians the same apostle 
describes himself in these words : "As to the righteousness 
which is in the law, blameless." But does he mean to 



390 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

say that he had fully obeyed the law of God, so that it 
could lay no sin to his charge ? If so, why does he write 
to the Galatians, that " as many as are of works of law 
are under a curse ; for it is written, Cursed is every one 
that continueth not in all the things written in the book 
of the law to do them " ? Or to the Eomans, " Both Jews 
and Gentiles are all under sin," and, " Whatever the law 
saith, it saith to those under the law, that every mouth 
may be stopped, and all the world become guilty before 
God " ? In the light of these passages it can hardly be 
supposed that Paul meant to claim for himself anything 
more than great strictness in observing the requirements 
of the law as to external service, — a strictness which 
rendered him " blameless " in the eyes of men. 

In a similar way ought his language to be interpreted, 
when he speaks of his life and work as an apostle. Thus 
in his second Epistle to the Corinthians (i. 12) he says, 
" Our glorying is this, the testimony of our conscience, 
that in simplicity and godly sincerity, not in fleshly wis- 
dom, but in the grace of God, did we conduct ourselves 
in the world, and more abundantly toward you ; " and in 
the first Epistle to the Thessalonians, " Ye are witnesses, 
and God, how holily and justly and unblamably we be- 
haved ourselves to you that believe " (ii. 10). These are 
certainly strong expressions ; but considered in connection 
with the context, and with the apostle's use of the words 
" holy " and " blameless " in other places, they by no means 
teach that he supposed himself to have lived in Corinth 
or Thessalonica without sin. It is characteristic of this 
apostle to use intense, unqualified language when treating 
of any particular subject, leaving the necessary limita- 
tions or qualifications to be supplied by the reader, or 
stated in some other place. 



HIGHER CHRISTIAN LIFE EXAMINED. 391 

But are there any expressions in the writings of Paul 
which show that he did not regard himself as perfect in 
heart and life? In his letters to the Corinthians this 
great apostle was compelled to assert with decision his 
apostolic authority and faithfulness ; yet he says, " So let 
a man account us as ministers of Christ, and stewards of 
the mysteries of God. Moreover, it is required in stewards 
that a man be found faithful. But with me it is a very 
small thing that I should be judged by you, or by man's 
day ; nay, neither do I judge myself. For I am conscious 
to myself of nothing ; yet am I not hereby justified, but 
he that judges me is the Lord. So then judge not any- 
thing before the time until the Lord come," etc. (1 Cor. 
iv. 1-5). How does this language of Paul compare with 
the words of some among us who claim to be living with- 
out sin ? For the apostle distinctly admits, that, though 
he is not conscious of unfaithfulness in the discharge of 
his duties as an apostle in Corinth, his conscience is. im- 
perfect and untrustworthy on this point. The Lord, and 
the Lord only, can make manifest the counsels of the 
hearts ; and when he comes each one shall have the praise 
due to him from Cod. 

Very suggestive also are his words in the ninth chapter : 
" I therefore so run, as not uncertainly ; so fight I, as not 
beating the air ; but I beat down my body, and bring it 
into subjection, lest perhaps, when I have been a herald 
to others, I should myself be rejected." Here the body, 
as in Col. ii. 11, is equivalent to " the old man " or "the 
flesh of sin ; " and the passage may be compared with 
Eom. viii. 13 : "If ye live according to the flesh, ye shall 
die ; but if by the Spirit ye slay the deeds of the flesh, ye 
shall live." Meyer's note hits the mark : " Paul regards 
his own body (thus explained) as the antagonist, which he 



392 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

assails with energetic and effective force, — even as a 
pugilist beats the face of his opponent black and blue, — 
in order that the affections which are hostile to the spir- 
itual ego may be subdued." 

But the view which Paul entertained of his own moral 
state is expressed still more clearly in his Epistle to the 
Philippians (iii. 12-15) thus : " Not that I have already 
obtained " the full experimental knowledge just described, 
" or have already been made perfect ; but I pursued on- 
ward, if I may lay hold of that for which I was laid hold 
of by Christ Jesus. Brethren, I do not count myself to 
have laid hold of it ; but one thing I do : forgetting the 
things behind, and reaching forth to the things before, I 
pursue on toward the mark, for the prize of the heavenly 
calling of God in Christ Jesus. Let us therefore, as many 
as are perfect, be of this mind." The perfection which 
the apostle disclaims in the first of these verses is ethical 
or moral. He declares himself to be in this respect striv- 
ing to reach a goal and obtain a prize still before him. 
This is the interpretation of Hackett, Alford, Ellicott, 
Lightfoot, Meyer, Wiesinger, and Bengel, not to mention 
other commentators of less distinction. " In the highest 
fervor," says Bengel, " the apostle does not dismiss spir- 
itual sobriety." There certainly was no need of his deny- 
ing twice over what he had already denied in the strongest 
and only natural manner, by the words, " If by any means 
I may attain to the resurrection from the dead ; " for no 
one could imagine that he had already experienced the 
resurrection and passed into the glorified state. Besides, 
it is evident that the word "perfect," in the last verse 
quoted above, cannot possibly refer to the perfection of 
saints in their glorified bodies. It can only relate to 
Christians here, including Paul himself. But if it refers 



HIGHER CHRISTIAN LIFE EXAMINED. 393 

to some or all of the Philippian Christians, together with 
the apostle, it must be used in a sense differing somewhat 
from that of the corresponding verb in the twelfth verse. 
Paul had not been made perfect in the full sense of the 
word, as applied to moral character; but, with many 
whom he addressed, he was a mature, full-grown Chris- 
tian, a man of rich and varied experience, far in ad- 
vance, no doubt, of many who claim to be perfect in 
love, if not in knowledge. The conclusion to which 
this examination leads is therefore obvious ; namely, 
that Paul did not profess to live without sin, but looked 
upon moral perfection as a goal which he was striving 
earnestly to reach. 

John's Experience. 

And the same may be said with equal confidence of 
John ; for his own words afford the clearest evidence of 
his conviction of sin still remaining in his nature. " If 
we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fel- 
lowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus his Son 
cleanse tli us from every sin " (1 John i. 7 sq.) Whether 
the word "cleanseth" here denotes the pardon of sin 
through the atoning death of Christ, according to the 
analogy of Lev. xvi. 30, — " On that day shall he make 
an atonement for you, to cleanse you, that ye may be 
clean from all your sins before the Lord," — or whether 
it denotes an inward purification through the influence of 
Christ's death (apprehended by faith) upon the heart, it 
is at any rate in the present tense, marking the effect 
of the atonement as continuous. It belongs not only 
to the past, but to the present, and it implies that there 
is now sin to be cleansed. Moreover, a proper trans- 
lation of the Greek shows that it is not the root prin- 



394 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

ciple of sin, but rather every particular sin, which is 
being cleansed. 

All this agrees with the next verse : " If we say that 
we have not sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is 
not in us." This statement includes the apostle himself 
in the number of those who have sin, and affirms that a 
denial of personal sinfulness as a present fact in all those 
embraced by the pronoun " we " must spring from self- 
deception, and imply a lack of thorough honesty of heart. 
It is a statement of remarkable clearness, depth, and 
power, needing nothing to make it more luminous and 
conclusive. 

Yet it is confirmed by the following verse : " If we 
confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive 
us our sins, and to cleanse us from every unrighteous- 
ness." These words take it for granted that all Chris- 
tians have not only sin, but " sins," not only evil in their 
nature, but evil that is manifested in feelings and actions 
which are sinful, and ought to be confessed. Hence they 
remind one of a petition in the prayer which Christ 
taught his disciples, to wit, " Forgive us our debts as we 
forgive our debtors," — a prayer which can hardly be 
supposed to contain any request unsuitable for believers at 
the present time. Yet the writer of these pages has been 
informed that some who profess to enjoy "the higher 
life " do not feel called upon to pray for the forgiveness of 
their sins. If this be so, they have grievously misunder- 
stood the state of their own hearts and the teaching of 
the divine Word. The apostle adds, " If we say that we 
have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not 
in us." By the first clause of this verse, sin is repre- 
sented as a reality, passing over from the past into the 
present experience of John and his readers. For this is 



HIGHER CHRISTIAN LIFE EXAMINED. 395 

the natural force of the tense of the Greek verb used by 
the apostle ; and, thus interpreted, the thought of the 
verse is in perfect harmony with the preceding context 
and with the experience of nearly all Christians, 

It has, indeed, been suggested to the writer by a pro- 
fessor of " the higher life," that John may have referred 
in verse eighth to a self-righteous person, who might 
say, " I have no sin to be forgiven," meaning, " I have 
never sinned." But it is evident that this letter of the 
apostle was written to those who were Christians by pro- 
fession at least, while the language just used would have 
been an utter and outspoken rejection of Christianity. 
There is no evidence that any were admitted to the apos- 
tolic churches save those who trusted, or professed to 
trust, in Christ for the pardon of their sins ; but there is 
evidence that some in the churches adopted the Antino- 
mian view, that as Christians they were not under law, 
but under grace, and therefore could not sin. Against 
this perversion of the truth Paul had to contend ear- 
nestly ; but against such a doctrine as the one supposed, 
namely, that some in the churches claimed that they had 
never sinned, there is no warning or argument in his let- 
ters. It may be added, that the view of the passage in 
John, which has been set forth in this discussion, is sus- 
tained, so far as its main feature is concerned, by the 
almost unanimous judgment of interpreters. 

From this brief study of passages in the letters of Paul 
and of John, it appears to be certain that neither of these 
"holy apostles" intended to speak of himself as living 
entirely without sin. They were devout, self-sacrificing, 
fmdlv men. In singleness of aim, in strength of faith, in 
ardor of love, in efforts for the salvation of sinners, they 
have probably had no superiors. It is therefore necessary 



396 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

to conclude that " sinless perfection " does not appear 
in the lives of Christian men on earth. "If we say 
that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth 
is not in us." 

Epistle to the Hebrews. 

The topic discussed in this paper is one of so much 
importance at the present time, that it should be consid- 
ered in the light of certain passages not yet examined. 
On the titlepage of a little book called " The Eest of 
Faith," stand two verses : " Come unto me, all ye that 
labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest" 
(Matt. xi. 28) ; and, " For we which have believed do 
enter into rest, as he said" (Heb. iv. 3). The former 
passage contains a promise for all those who come to 
Christ, or take his yoke upon them ; not for some, but for 
all ; and it is fulfilled in every instance. But there 
is no evidence in the passage or context, that the ful- 
filment is not gradual, progressive, beginning here and 
culminating hereafter, affording an earnest of the inher- 
itance in time and the full enjoyment of it in eternity. 
The latter passage asserts that believers in Christ are en- 
tering into the rest promised to the people of God. But 
whether they enjoy it fully in this life depends, perhaps, 
upon the sense of other verses in the connection. In one 
of these, the ninth, the sacred writer draws his conclu- 
sion thus : " So then there remaineth a sabbath-rest for 
the people of God ; " and then in the eleventh founds upon 
it his exhortation, "Let us therefore endeavor to enter* 
into that rest, that no one may fall in the same exam- 
ple of unbelief." Because of their unbelief most of the 
Israelites fell in the wilderness, without entering into 
the rest of Canaan ; and the Hebrew Christians were in 



HIGHER CHRISTIAN LIFE EXAMINED. 397 

danger of departing in the same way from the true God. 
Hence the inspired writer exhorts them to " hold fast the 
beginning of their confidence firm unto the end." It is 
quite plain, therefore, that he is thinking of a heavenly 
rest, typified by that of Canaan, — a rest of which only a 
foretaste can be enjoyed in this earthly pilgrimage. 

Two or three other expressions of the Epistle to the 
Hebrews are alleged in support of the claim that certain 
Christians lead a life free from sin. Among these is the 
exhortation, vi. 1 : " Leaving the first principles of the 
doctrine of Christ, let us go on to perfection." The per- 
fection here referred to is that of Christian understanding 
or knowledge ; and according to the preceding verses, that 
knowledge is progressive, requiring time, thought, and 
action for its attainment. "For though ye ought, on 
account of the time, to be teachers, ye again have need 
that some one teach you the first principles of the 
oracles of God ; " and, " Solid food belongs to those of full 
age, who bv use have their senses exercised to discern 
good and evil." With Conant, Alford, and Xoyes, we 
have translated a Greek adjective which literally signifies 
" perfect," or " perfect ones," by the phrase " those of full 
age," for this without doubt is its sense in the passage 
quoted. And obviously the noun, " perfection," in the 
exhortation which follows, is used with reference to the 
same thing, maturity of Christian life and understanding. 
It is therefore quite certain that this exhortation ought 
never to be alleged in support of the view that certain 
Christians become, in the full sense of the word, perfect, 
either in understanding or in heart, while still in the 
flesh. 

Another expression which is sometimes alleged in sup- 
port of the doctrine of " the higher life," may be found in 



398 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

Heb. vii. 25 : " Whence also he is able to save to the 
utmost those who come to God through him, since he 
ever liveth to intercede for them." But this language 
says nothing whatever concerning the rapidity of the 
work by which the believer is brought to complete salva- 
tion. It simply declares that Christ is able to accomplish 
fully the salvation of those who come to God through 
him, because he is an ever-living Intercessor for them ; and 
this would be just as true if he were to complete the 
work of sanctification at death, and of glorification at the 
resurrection, as if he were to do the former at the instant 
of regeneration, and the latter at the instant of bodily 
death. It is surely surprising that any one should ever 
have appealed to this passage in proof of the doctrine 
of sinless perfection on earth. 

More plausible is the inference from another passage, 
ix. 14 : " How much more shall the blood of Christ, who 
through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot 
unto God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to 
serve the living God ! " But the reference of this verse 
to the atonement of Christ, as sufficient to deliver the 
believer from a sense of condemnation, is clear. Who- 
ever trusts in Christ may draw nigh to God without 
fear, and engage in his service. The blood of Christ 
gives him true peace and boldness ; in proportion as 
he apprehends the value of that blood will his con- 
science have rest, without being darkened. With this 
passage may be compared three others in the tenth 
chapter : " In which will we have been sanctified, through 
the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all ; " 
"For by one offering hath he perfected forever those 
who are sanctified ; " " Let us draw near with a true 
heart, in full assurance of faith, having had our hearts 



HIGHER CHRISTIAN LIFE EXAMINED. 399 

sprinkled from an evil conscience," etc, In all these 
verses, the efficacy of the atonement for every one who 
believes is set forth. There is no hint of a division of 
Christians into classes. The perfection and sanetifica- 
tion referred to are perfection of standing in Christ, 
not perfection of character through his grace. In other 
words, the perfection and sanctification of the Hebrew 
Christians were as yet in Christ, not in themselves. 

And all this agrees with a passage in the twelfth 
chapter: "My son, despise not the chastening of the 
Lord, nor faint when reproved by him; for whom the 
Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scouro-eth every son 
whom he receiveth. If ye endure chastening, God 
dealeth with you as with sons ; but if ye are without 
chastisement, of which all have been made partakers, 
then are ye bastards, and not sons." According to this 
language, the true children of God may expect chastise- 
ment, reproof, scourging ; and a lack of these would be 
an argument against, not for, the fact of their adoption 
into his family. But the use of these implies something 
in their hearts and lives which deserves reproof, chas- 
tisement, scourging ; and that something must be sin. 
For children are not wont to be chastised by their 
parents for weakness, imperfection, or even "little in- 
consistencies," but for wrong-doing, for disobedience, for 
neglecting what is required or doing what is forbidden. 

Epistle of James. 

There are sentences also in the Epistle of James which 
raise the standard of Christian life very high, and sharply 
condemn sin of every form. If exhortation to a strictly 
holy life were evidence that Christians did, in some in- 



400 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

stances live such a life, it would be easy to find that 
evidence in the letter of James. But this is the only 
evidence of such living to be found in that letter, and 
it is no evidence at all; it rather supposes a failure at 
this very point, so that the writer may consistently say, 
" For in many things we all offend " (iii. 2). And there 
is certainly no part of the New Testament which deals 
with religious experience in a less ideal or a more matter- 
of-fact way than the Epistle of James. 

Doctrine of Peter. 

The theology of Peter has been characterized as the 
Theology of Hope ; for no writer of the New Testament 
appears to give so prominent a place to hope in his 
account of Christian experience. To be sure, he speaks 
of his readers as " children of obedience," as " redeemed 
from their vain course of life with the precious blood of 
Christ," as "having purified their souls in obeying the 
truth," as " a holy nation," a " ht>ly priesthood," as " es- 
tablished in the truth," and as having " a pure mind." 
Yet his letters prove that these expressions denote but 
a partial and incipient holiness ; not a life conformed 
to the prescribed standard, but a life which recognizes 
that standard and moves toward it. Hence the nu- 
merous exhortations and admonitions found in these 
Epistles : " As he who called you is holy, be ye your- 
selves holy in all your deportment ; " " Pass the time of 
your sojourning in fear ; " " Love one another from the 
heart fervently ; " " Long for the spiritual, unadulterated 
milk, that ye may grow thereby unto salvation ; " " Ab- 
stain from fleshy lusts, that war against the soul ; " 
" Submit yourselves to every human institution, for the 



HIGHER CHRISTIAN LIFE EXAMINED. 401 

Lord's sake ; " " Honor all men. Love the brotherhood. 
Fear God. Honor the king ; " " Ye wives, be in sub- 
jection to your own husbands ; " " Ye husbands, in like 
manner, dwelling with them according to knowledge, 
giving honor to the female ; " " Be sober, and watch 
unto prayer ; " " Have your love to one another fer- 
vent ; " " Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty 
hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time ;" " Give 
diligence to make your calling and election sure ; " " Be 
diligent that ye may be found without spot, and blame- 
less in his sight, in peace ; " " Beware lest ye fall 
from your own steadfastness ; " " Grow in the grace 
and knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ." 
These are samples of exhortation in the letters of Peter, 
and they presuppose an imperfect life in the Christians 
to whom they were addressed. Best, holiness, perfec- 
tion, were objects of hope, not of full possession. Peter 
therefore speaks of those to whom he wrote as begotten 
again to " a lively hope," — to " an inheritance imperish- 
able, and undefiled, and unfading, reserved in heaven " 
for those " who are kept by the power of God through 
faith unto a salvation ready to be revealed in the last 
time." • They are also exhorted to " hope perfectly for the 
grace that is to be brought to them at the revelation of 
Jesus Christ," and to " pass the time of their sojourning 
here in fear." Their " faith and hope " are said to be " on 
God;" and other expressions of a similar import are used. 
There seems therefore to be no reason to suppose that 
Peter thought of Christians in this life as belonging to 
two classes, one composed of persons simply justified, 
and the other composed of persons already sanctified. 
All are justified, and, as clothed in the righteousness of 
Christ, all are sanctified ; but none are yet perfect, living 



402 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

without sin. Thus James and Peter agree with Paul 
and John, while the Epistle to the Hebrews is in har- 
mony with all the rest of the New Testament. 



Summary. 

Christ reminds the young man that there is but one 
perfect standard of goodness, the character of God; he 
teaches his disciples to pray, "Forgive us our debts, as 
we forgive our debtors ; " and he commends the prayer 
of the publican, " God be merciful to me a sinner." Paul 
teaches that in the new man, having the Spirit of Christ, 
"the body is dead because of sin," while "the Spirit is life 
because of righteousness ; " that such a man " by the 
Spirit should mortify the deeds of the body," that he 
himself, feeling his own moral imperfection, and " forget- 
ting the things behind," was "pressing toward the mark," 
and would have the Philippian Christians imitate his ex- 
ample in this respect. John declares that " if we say we 
have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not 
in us ; " but " if we confess our sins, he is faithful and 
righteous to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from 
all unrighteousness." James asserts that " in many things 
we all offend." Peter represents the Christian life of his 
readers as imperfect, a life of hope rather than of fruition, 
yet exhorts them to grow in the grace and knowledge of 
Christ. And the writer to the Hebrews assures them of 
a sabbath-rest into which they should seek to enter, while 
he reminds them of their slight progress in Christian vir- 
tue and knowledge. All these representations appear to 
be inconsistent with the current doctrine of " the higher 
life," and fully justify us in rejecting that doctrine as 
erroneous. 



HIGHER CHRISTIAN LIFE EXAMINED. 403 

EVIDENCE OF EXPERIENCE. 

Self-Knowledge Imperfect. 

It is noticeable that those Christians who have passed 
into what has been called " the higher life " rely very 
confidently upon their own experience for proof of their 
doctrine. Indeed, some of them speak as if they knew 
their own hearts thoroughly, — as if there were no secret 
places, no unseen depths, no unrecognized currents, in 
their souls, — as if they could measure every instant 
the utmost capability of their spirits for love to God and 
man, and could therefore detect the slightest deficiency 
in the ardor or purity of that affection. But a mo- 
ment's thought will convince any one that his self- 
knowledge is very imperfect. A Christian may certainly 
know in some degree what he does feel, whether of joy 
or of sorrow, of love or of wrath ; but how can he 
know that it is all he could feel ? He may be sure that 
he has great peace and love ; but how can he be certain 
that his peace is as deep, or his love as strong, as it 
could be? 

Self-Approval Untrustworthy. 

But may not a Christian safely infer the moral con- 
dition of his soul from his knowledge of its conscious 
working merely ? If some of the streams from this 
fountain are seen to be pure, must not the fountain 
itself be pure ? We reply that, in such a case, every- 
thing depends on the perfection of the eye that sees, and 
the test of purity which is adopted ; for a stream may 



404 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

be pure to one eye and very impure to another, clean 
according to one test and very unclean according to an- 
other. An imperfect Christian is therefore in danger 
of overrating the moral character of his conscious action. 
Until every film is removed from his spiritual eye, he 
is a fallible and partial judge of his own experience. 
Until he knows that his view of the action of his own 
heart is perfect, he cannot safely infer from that view 
that his heart is perfect. In other words, a man must 
be certain from some other evidence that he is perfect 
before he can appeal to his own consciousness in proof 
of his perfection. Hence, if the Word of God distinctly 
taught that some Christians would live without sin in 
the present world, no person could be certain of be- 
longing to that number, except by a special revelation 
from God. How much less can he be certain of this 
when the Word of God contains no such doctrine, but 
a holy apostle says : " If we say that we have no sin, 
we deceive ourselves " ! 



Is Unbelief the Eoot of Sin? 

Yet a possessor of " the higher life " writes as follows : 
"I can no longer accuse myself of unbelief, the root of all 
sin." Let us pause to ask, What evidence does the Bible 
afford that " unbelief is the root of all sin " ? We are 
told that "the love of money is a root of all evil;" that 
if a man " love the world, the love of the Father is not 
in him ; " that " sin is the transgression of the law," 
and " love the fulfilling of the law ; " that " God is love," 
and Christians should be " imitators of God ; " but we 
are nowhere taught that " unbelief is the root of all sin." 
It is indeed said that " whatsoever is not of faith is sin : " 



HIGHER CHRISTIAN LIFE EXAMINED. 405 

but, according to the connection, this only means that 
it is a sin for any person to do what he is not con- 
vinced is right; in other words, disobedience to con- 
science is always sinful. It is also said that " without 
faith it is impossible to please him ; " but it is equally 
true that without love it is impossible to please him. 

PUEPOSE OF THE INDWELLING OF THE SPIEIT. 

But the same writer proceeds thus : " What may be 
in me, below the gaze of consciousness, I do not know. 
If sin consists only in active energies, I am not con- 
scious of such dwelling within me. If sin consists in 
a state, as some assert, I infer that I am not in such a 
state from the absence of sinful energies flowing there- 
from, and more especially from the indwelling of the 
Holy Spirit." To begin with the last clause : Does the 
indwelling of the Holy Spirit prove any man to be 
living without sin ? If it does, then it proves every 
Christian to be thus living ; for the apostle distinctly 
affirms that " If any man have not the Spirit of Christ, 
he is none of his." But it is not true, as this writer 
admits, that all Christians are thus living ; hence it is 
not safe to infer that any one is so living, from the fact 
that the Holy Spirit dwells in him. Indeed, the Holy 
Spirit dwells in human hearts to make them holy, not 
because they are already sinless. To the previous argu- 
ment, resting on his own unconsciousness of sin, our 
reply has been given above. His witness in respect 
to himself is untrustworthy ; his eye may not be so 
clear as God's eye, nor his standard of duty so high 
as God's standard. 



406 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

Confirmation of our View. 

But there are two other reasons why the testimony 
of those who enjoy "the higher life," as to the degree 
of sanctification which they have experienced, is unsat- 
isfactory. And the first is this : they appear to watch 
the indications of grace in their hearts with far closer 
attention than they do the motions of sin. In some 
respects this may be wise; certainly it tends to the 
present comfort of the Christian ; but it disqualifies 
him to bear witness concerning " the law of sin in his 
members." Moreover, as a one-sided view of his inward 
life, it cannot be altogether salutary. Perhaps it is bet- 
ter to look chiefly at Christ in love and trust, without 
dwelling to any great extent on the excellence of that 
love and trust ; but at all events it is certain that a 
man needs to search his heart very closely, as with the 
candle of the Lord, in order to be sure that sin does 
not lurk or nestle therein; and if we may judge by 
their writings, this species of heart-searching is not 
characteristic of those who rejoice in " the higher life." 

A second reason for distrusting their testimony in 
respect to the degree of sanctification which they have 
experienced is this : They assume that God has pro- 
mised to deliver them now from all sin, if they be- 
lieve aright, or, in other words, if they believe that he 
will do this very thing. Hence, knowing that God 
cannot lie, they conclude, from their conscious exercise 
of faith in this promise, that the work is actually done. 
The very character of their belief on the point in ques- 
tion tends to make them explain away everything that 
seems like sin in their desires or impulses, or to adopt 
a view of sin that agrees with their view of the prom- 



HIGHER CHRISTIAN LIFE EXAMINED. 407 

ise of God. And so we are reminded that there is a 
Christian, in distinction from a divine, an angelic, or 
even an Adarnic perfection, and are told that " whatso- 
ever is of faith is not sin " (" Holiness through Faith "). 
But according to this view the standard of holiness 
is a fluctuating one, and for aught we can see, some 
of the followers of Christ, who have bound their fellow- 
Christians to the rack or the stake for what was be- 
lieved to be the mortal sin of heresy, inay have been 
acting at the time " up to the given measure of light 
upon their duty," and were therefore free from sin. 
The error in this view is a dangerous one. Faith in 
Christ does not, as a matter of fact, render every act 
which partakes of it holy. Faith in Christ is accept- 
able to God, not because it makes the conduct of the 
believer in this life sinless, but because it unites the 
soul with Christ, who has suffered for it. Faith in 
Christ and him crucified is peculiarly the act of a sin- 
ner who is conscious of his guilt. Eahab and Samson 
had faith, but they were not free from sin. And of one 
thing at least we may be sure, — that the Scriptures 
nowhere teach that "whatsoever is of faith is not 
sin." 

The Higher Life Experience One-sided. 

But is the peculiar experience of those who profess " the 
higher life " to count for nothing ? Far from it. The 
writer believes it to be one type of Christian experience, 
and on many accounts a very interesting type. If it is 
not, in his judgment, the highest known to the Church, it 
is not certainly the lowest. If it is one-sided, like every- 
thing else in man, it has certain elements which go 



408 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

toward making up a perfect character. If such sentences 
as these : " I felt, I knew, that I was accepted fully of 
Jesus," and, "For several years I have done the trusting, 
and Jesus the keeping," awaken surprise, and lead one to 
ask, " Was a believer ever partially accepted by Jesus ? 
Is not trusting a work of the Spirit by which the believer 
is kept ? " (1 Peter i. 5) yet there are other expressions 
in the same account which betoken a deep sense of the 
Saviour's presence and love. If we miss in the writings 
of such men the exhortation, " Work out your own salva- 
tion with fear and trembling," or, " Be diligent to make 
your calling and election sure," we find the more welcome 
exhortation, " Eejoice in the Lord alway, and again I say, 
Eejoice ; " " Be careful for nothing ; but in everything, 
by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your 
requests be made known to God ; and the peace of God, 
which passeth all understanding, will keep your hearts 
and your minds in Christ Jesus ; " and such passages are 
used in them with a natural earnestness and pathos im- 
possible to any but those in whose hearts the love of God 
has been shed abroad by the Holy Ghost. If they some- 
times claim an almost inspired guidance in answer to 
prayer, and look to the Spirit more than to the Word 
for light in respect to doctrine and duty, they evidently 
appreciate more correctly than many others the provi- 
dence of God in the daily concerns of life, find greater 
peace in a practical reliance on Christ for help in every 
time of need, and give a larger place in thought and feel- 
ing to spiritual things. If they seem to forget that " we 
are saved by hope," and that it doth not yet appear what 
we shall be, but we shall at last be like him, because we 
shall see him as he is ; if they seem to undervalue the 
ministry of death by which we are separated from the 



HIGHER CHRISTIAN LIFE EXAMINED. 409 

allurements of sense, and translated to our home with 
the Lord ; if they seem to think less than did the apos- 
tles of the change which the resurrection will effect by 
completing the redemption of our whole nature ; if they 
seem to attach undue importance to the earnest joy in 
this life as compared with the far more exceeding and 
eternal weight of glory which is to be received in the life 
to come ; if they seem to delight in certain truths, to the 
obvious neglect or the manifest dislike of others, thus prov- 
ing their piety to be intense in a certain direction, instead 
of full and true in all directions, — if this, as we think, is 
true, it is also true that they appear to have a very sweet 
spirit of trust in the Lord, and a very strong assurance of 
his love ; that they delight in prayer, and testify aloud of 
the grace which they have received ; and that they ex- 
hibit a profound interest in the stage or type of religious 
experience which has been vouchsafed to them. Indeed, 
there are many, very many Christians, who must be re- 
garded as far behind them in faith and zeal, in whose 
minds and hearts this present world holds a much larger 
place than it does in some who enjoy " the higher life." 

Another Type of Experience. 

But, on the other hand, there are not a few, ignorant of 
the peculiar experience in question, who, saying little of 
their own progress and nothing of a " second conversion," 
seeing much sin in their own hearts and humbling them- 
selves before God on account of it, confessing that in 
many things they offend and fail of perfection in all, yet 
wholly trust in Christ, and devote their energies with life- 
consuming zeal to his service ; who work in the darkest 
places at home, or go far hence to the heathen ; who 



410 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND KELIGION. 

esteem others better than themselves, and look after the 
spiritual good of others as tenderly as after their own ; 
who are renewed day by day in the inner man, and con- 
strained by the love of Christ to warn men night and day 
with tears ; who are pressed and bowed down by the 
weight of care for others, so that they would even die 
but for the grace of Christ. And the piety of these 
seems to the writer in more perfect accord with the 
whole truth, as taught by inspired men, than the piety 
which has been denominated "the higher life." The con- 
ditions of silent but certain growth are in it. The work 
of faith, and labor of love, and patience of hope, are 
manifestations of it. It is lowly, teachable, self-distrust- 
ful, but at the same time earnest, active, uplooking. The 
alternative is not, therefore, between standing in shade at 
the foot of a mountain, or in light on its top; between 
weak faith and lukewarm affection on the low plane of 
justification, or strong assurance and perfect love on the 
high plane of sanctification. The statement of that alter- 
native leaves out of sight a great multitude of the truest 
and most self-denying followers of Christ in every age of 
the Church, and may almost be said to do dishonor to the 
grace of God in the history of his people ; but there is no 
reason in the actual experience of " the higher life " for 
making it. 



EVIDENCE OF OBSERVATION. 

It is commonly asserted by professors of " the higher 
life," that faith in Christ and self-surrender to him, 
though only partial, are necessary in order to a state of 
justification, while the faith must become absolute and 



HIGHER CHRISTIAN LIFE EXAMINED. 411 

the self-surrender complete in order to a state of saneti- 
fication. The former of these are conditions of the new 
life, the latter of " the higher life ; " and the inward tran- 
sition from the second state to the third is scarcely less 
marked than that from the first to the second. The 
entrance into " the higher life " may therefore be called 
with some propriety a " second conversion," lifting one as 
far above the ordinary life of believers as regeneration 
raises him above the life of unbelievers. In so far as 
this claim rests upon experience, it has been sufficiently 
examined ; but there is another test which may be justly 
applied by those who have not the experience, — namely, 
the test of observation. " By their fruits ye shall know 
them," said the Holy One. "A good tree cannot bring 
forth evil fruit." This is a severe test, no doubt, and 
liable to abuse ; yet, when fairly applied, it is as likely 
to reveal the truth as any other, save the Word of God. 
What, then, if their theory be correct, might be expected 
of those who enjoy " the higher life " ? 

A Lowly Mind. 

Lowliness of mind might be expected. For this was 
characteristic of the Lord Jesus, and must be, therefore, 
of all who resemble him. But what is a lowly mind, and 
how does it find expression ? Paul suggests an answer 
to the former question, by exhorting the Philippians to 
" think each other better than themselves " (ii. 3) ; and 
Peter furnishes an answer to the latter in these words : 
"Yea, all of you be subject one to another, and be clothed 
with humility; for God resisteth the proud, and giveth 
grace to the humble " (1 Peter v. 5). Genuine humility 
tends to make one see more good in others than in him- 



412 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

self, and more evil in himself than in others. Whether 
this spirit is sufficiently characteristic of those brethren 
who rejoice in "the higher life," to justify their claim, 
the writer will not attempt to decide. It is, however, a 
point to be carefully considered by every one who makes 
the claim. 

A Docile Spirit. 

A teachable spirit might be expected. There are truths 
which every Christian is willing to learn, lines of prog- 
ress in knowledge which are almost certain to lead him 
into green pastures and beside the still waters. But this 
cannot be said of all truth. There are doctrines which are 
firmly believed by some, and greatly disliked by others. 
A devout Calvinist finds the doctrine of personal elec- 
tion in the Scriptures, but a devout Arminian is con- 
sciously unwilling to discover it there. An honest 
Baptist insists that, according to the New Testament, 
nothing but the immersion of believers in water is Chris- 
tian baptism, while a sincere Pedobaptist is strongly 
repelled by his feeling from this view. Thus Christians 
are separated into various sects. Is the word of God at 
fault in this matter ? Is the light so faint that truth 
cannot be reached by candid study ? We trow not. 
The fault is rather with the followers of Christ, who are 
not disposed to welcome all truth. 

But what influence has " the higher life " upon its 
confessors in this respect ? Are they rendered by it, in 
any marked degree, more willing to examine the evidence 
for a doctrine which they dislike ? Does the Presby- 
terian who enjoys " the rest of faith " feel sure that his 
Methodist brother who has just obtained the same bless- 
ing under a different name will listen with greater candor 



HIGHER CHRISTIAN LIFE EXAMINED. 413 

than before to reasons for the doctrine of election ? Or 
does the Baptist of like experience approach his Presby- 
terian brother of " the higher life " with confidence in his 
willingness to weigh the evidence for believers' baptism 
more fairly than he would have done when only a com- 
mon Christian ? Here is a test worthy of being applied 
by those who profess to have surrendered themselves to 
the Lord, so that they have no will but his. We pre- 
tend not to single out the brethren who are in error, be 
they Baptists or Presbyterians, Methodists or Lutherans, 
Catholics or Quakers ; it is enough to know that some of 
them must be in error, while assuredly their life, if it 
were moving on as high a plane as they suppose, would 
lead them to embrace truth which they now reject. The 
writer may be allowed to testify that he has known some 
professors of " the higher life " to be utterly averse to the 
plain duty of searching the Scriptures fcr light in regard 
to certain points of Christian doctrine or action. This 
may not be true of all ; but there is reason to fear that 
too many are more inclined to be guided by their impres- 
sions, given, as they believe, in answer to prayer, than by 
a faithful study of the Holy Book. 

A Benevolent Heart. 

Great benevolence might also be expected. For " the 
end of the law is love, out of a pure heart and a good 
conscience and faith unfeigned ; " " Thou shalt love thy 
neighbor as thyself ; " " He that loveth not his brother 
whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath 
not seen ? " " The love of money is a root of all evil ; " 
" If any man love the world, the love of the Father is 
not in him." These sentences are easily repeated, but no 



414 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

finite mind ever exhausted their meaning. Faith works 
by love, or it is dead ; and on earth there is no true love 
without self-sacrifice. We must suffer with Christ for 
the good of men, if we would be glorified with him. By 
the process of sanctification, be it gradual or instantane- 
ous, the believer is changed into the moral likeness of 
Christ, " who, though he was rich, for our sakes became 
poor, that we through his poverty might be rich." Now, 
it may be said that our Christian brethren who, through 
perfect self-devotement and unqualified trust, are blessed 
with " the rest of faith," have been delivered from the 
love of money, the desire of fame, the spirit of self- 
indulgence, and do steadily illustrate the unselfish vir- 
tues of a sanctified heart; that the most ardent lovers 
of their race, the most self-sacrificing missionaries, the 

7 O ' 

stanchest heroes and martyrs of the faith, belong to this 
class. If this be so, it is a circumstance highly impor- 
tant ; but even this would not prove their doctrine cor- 
rect throughout ; else we might accept the Moravian 
creed without consulting our Bibles. But, if it is not so, 
their doctrine must be erroneous ; for the very pith and 
marrow of that doctrine is comprehended in the claim 
that they have reached, by the grace of God, a Christian 
life distinctly higher than that of other believers, a state 
of holiness either perfect or closely akin to perfection ; 
and from the nature of the case such a life must be one 
of pre-eminent unselfishness and devotion to the good of 
men. The writer is not satisfied by any information 
within his reach that " the higher life " is able to meet 
this test, and relieve itself from the charge of error. 
Certainly he has known many, and read of more, who, 
while lamenting the weakness of their faith and confess- 
ing daily their sins, were ready to spend and be spent 



HIGHER CHRISTIAN LIFE EXAMINED. 415 

for the salvation of the lost, were willing and eager to go 
far hence to the Gentiles, and were remarkable for glory- 
ing everywhere, not in themselves, but in the cross of 
our Lord Jesus Christ. 

The objections which the writer feels to the current 
doctrine of " the higher Christian life " may be restated 
briefly as follows : — 

Tiees of Christians. 

It departs from the plain sense of Scripture in dividing 
Christians into two sections, or tiers, one above the other, 
and separated by a change similar and subsequent to 
regeneration. Of such a change and division there ap- 
pears to be no evidence in the New Testament. Accord- 
ing to that volume every one who is in Christ is a new 
creature, begotten of God, a temple of the Holy Ghost. 
In one Spirit all are baptized into one body. Under 
one King they all constitute a royal priesthood, a holy 
nation. In stature they differ every one from his fellow 
like the trees of a forest ; and it would be as natural to 
divide them into ten classes as into two. 

Progress of Spiritual Life. 

It departs from the plain sense of Scripture in explain- 
ing the progress of spiritual life in the soul. For the 
sacred writers represent that progress as a growth de- 
pendent on the grace and truth of Christ ; and " growth " 
is an almost imperceptible increase of life and power, — 
it cometh not with observation. Or, they describe it as a 
" renewal " which is repeated day by day, and not accom- 
plished once for all. Or, they speak of it as a " cleans- 
ing " of the person from sin, which must be evermore 



416 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

necessary till death comes. But the doctrine in question 
puts into this process a sort of " second conversion," by 
which the soul rises in a moment into a totally different 
atmosphere. 

Baptism of the Spirit, and Prophecy. 

It departs from the obvious sense of Scripture in 
claiming for Christians through all time the promise 
of baptism in the Holy Spirit and of the gift of proph- 
ecy. The motive which leads to an assertion of this 
claim may consist chiefly in a hidden desire to find the 
doctrine of " the higher life " in the New Testament ; but 
the tendency of it is to destroy all confidence in the 
Bible as the sole standard and test of Christian truth. 
For if the same inspiration which was given to prophets 
in the apostolic age is possessed by the brethren of " the 
higher life " now, the former have no more claim to our 
confidence than the latter. Either the prophets of the 
first age, and the brethren of "the higher life" in all 
ages, are to be considered infallible when speaking in the 
Spirit, or neither the one nor the other can be trusted as 
infallible. If the former hypothesis be accepted as cor- 
rect, the Pope of Rome may not be infallible, but there are 
many persons in Europe and America who are so ; if the 
latter be accepted, there is nowhere any ultimate author- 
ity in matters of Christian faith. Dr. Mahan may be 
prepared to accept one of these two positions, as he 
must in order to justify his work on the " Baptism of 
the Holy Ghost ; " but the writer is not prepared to do 
this, believing they are inconsistent with the Holy 
Scriptures. 



higher christian life examined. 417 

Standard of Holiness. 

It departs, or tends to depart, from the plain sense 
of Scripture in regard to the standard of holiness for 
Christians. That standard, according to Christ himself, 
is the character of God. To this standard he referred 
the young ruler who came to him with the question, 
" Good Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life ? " 
by replying, " Why callest thou me good ? There is 
none good but God only " (Luke xviii. 18, 19). For the 
manifest purpose of Christ was to lift the young man's eye 
from merely human, and therefore imperfect, standards 
of goodness, to the divine and perfect one. And he pre- 
sented this, not as a standard for angels or for Adam, but 
for all men ; it is the only true standard for man as he is. 
And there is no greater absurdity in religion than to 
suppose that the standard of holiness has been lowered 
for the servants of Christ. But the most earnest and 
conspicuous defenders of the doctrine under examination 
have again and again set up a different and lower stand- 
ard of moral obligation for Christians. If they act, it is 
said, day by day up to the given measure of light upon 
duty, if they " overcome all discerned evil," they are liv- 
ing without sin, — a sentiment which is not scriptural. 

SlNLESSNESS. 

It departs, or tends to depart, from the plain sense of 
Scripture by asserting that some who enjoy " the higher 
life " live without sin. There are many, indeed, who 
hold the doctrine in question, without laying claim to 
perfection of Christian life ; but they seem to be neither 
grieved nor shocked by the language of their brethren 

27 



418 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

who claim such perfection. We can hardly be in error, 
therefore, when we say that the doctrine of " the higher 
life " tends strongly to the doctrine of " sinless per- 
fection." But it seems to us plainly unscriptural to 
assert that any Christian on earth lives without sin. 
The words of Christ to the young man as quoted above, 
the words of John in the first chapter of his first epistle, 
and the words of James, "We all offend," are directed 
squarely against this error, and are singularly forcible 
and unambiguous. 

Undervaluing the Word. 

It departs, or at least seems to depart, from the plain 
sense of Scripture by ascribing the believer's sanctifica- 
tion to the work of the Spirit, almost without the use 
of truth. Very little comparatively is said of the office 
of truth. The substance of the entire process is summed 
up by one writer in the words, " For several years I have 
done the trusting, and Jesus the keeping ; " Jesus, of 
course, being supposed to keep his people by the Holy 
Spirit. But it is the doctrine of Peter that God keeps 
Christians through faith, or by means of trust, unto 
salvation. It is by sustaining and nourishing, first, faith 
in Christ, and then love and hope, that Christians are 
sanctified. A servant of Jesus does the trusting in no 
other sense than he does the loving, the hoping, the 
watching, the praying, the striving. To all these the 
Lord moves him by the joint agency of his Spirit and 
his Word. The idea of simple, passive trust springing 
from the human heart, as the God-appointed condition 
of sanctifying grace from Christ, is foreign to the Bible. 

To these objections founded on the Sacred Kecord 



HIGHER CHRISTIAN LIFE EXAMINED. 419 

might be added a number taken from the history of the 
Christian religion, showing, in the first place, that per- 
sons who claim the special guidance of the Spirit in all 
things have been proven to undervalue the sure Word 
of God and the proper helps to its interpretation ; and, 
in the second place, that such persons have been found 
no more stable in character, pure in faith, and self- 
sacrificing in life, than large numbers who are conscious 
of no peculiar light from the Spirit. 



PEOGEESSIVE SANCTIFICATION". 

If it is a mistake to suppose that the type of Christian 
experience known as " the higher life " is more than a 
very imperfect and one-sided development, leaving much 
of darkness, error, and sin in the soul, it would be no 
less a mistake to regard any other type of Christian 
experience as perfect. Yet a different type may have 
at least this advantage, that it includes a full recognition 
of remaining darkness and sin, and impels the soul to 
cry out more earnestly for help in the conflict with evil. 
To say more than this by way of comparison would be 
unprofitable. " We venture not," says an apostle, " to 
reckon ourselves among, or to compare ourselves with, 
some of those who commend themselves ; but they, 
measuring themselves among themselves, and comparing 
themselves with themselves, are not wise." These words 
contain an important hint for all. 



420 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

Description of Sanctification. 

It may, however, be well to close this discussion with 
a statement of what is comprised in full sanctification, 
and of the means by which it is attained. To be of any 
value, this statement must be drawn from the Word of 
God ; and therefore the language of Christ, as preserved 
by Paul, " It is more blessed to give than to receive," 
will be a convenient starting-point, for it casts a flood 
of light upon the nature of men. Assuming, as we must, 
that the true blessedness of man depends upon a right 
use of all his powers and capacities, it appears from this 
sentence that he has a spiritual constitution, which quali- 
fies him both to receive and to impart good. He is made 
to be a beneficiary, and also to be a benefactor. His 
moral perfection must therefore consist in the greatest 
possible activity and growth of these two sides of his 
being, — the capacity to receive and the power to give. 
He is dependent on God for being; faculty, and grace ; 
without God he is nothing, and can do nothing. A full 
and joyful recognition of this fact, accompanied with 
perfect openness of soul to divine influence, is necessary 
to holiness. Toward God he must be wholly and grate- 
fully receptive, longing for his favor as life, and for his 
loving-kindness as better than life, and trusting him 
absolutely in storm and in calm. But this is only one 
side of a holy life. Love is said to be greater than faith, 
and giving more blessed than receiving. This would be 
incredible, were it not asserted by the very highest 
authority. For who would imagine that anything could 
be more blissful than to welcome the peace of God into 
the soul, than to feel the currents of eternal life flowing 
into one's heart from the true vine ? Yet there is a more 



HIGHER CHRISTIAN LIFE EXAMINED. 421 

joyful experience than this, — the experience of bearing- 
fruit, of imparting good, the out-going, self-forgetting, 
triumphant activities of love. With unrivalled clearness 
of vision, the disciple whom Jesus loved saw in his 
blessed Master the image of the Father, and, in words 
marvellous alike for their simplicity and power, declared 
that " God is love, and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth 
in God, and God in him." Perfect love must therefore 
be united with perfect trust in order to full sanctification. 
Let either of them be weak, and the other will suffer. 
If " the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye, or the pride 
of life," still maintains the slightest hold upon the heart, 
by so much will faith and love be weakened, and the 
believer's character fall below the standard of holiness. 
If self-will or self-indulgence, if scepticism or credulity, 
if disrelish of any truth or attachment to any error, yet 
lingers in the spirit, it is a sign of the old nature ; sin is 
still there casting its shadow on every act, and all con- 
ceit of perfection is folly. 

Means of Sanctification. 

It cannot, however, be denied that faith and love are 
capable of increase ; nor can it be doubted that evil de- 
sires may be weakened, if not wholly eradicated. By this 
double process is Christian character improved, ennobled, 
purified, in the present life. 

Doctrine of Peter. 

Both the fact and the means of this improvement are 
indicated by the words of Peter, " But grow in the grace 
and knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ." 
This language is generally understood as an exhortation 



422 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

to Christians to seek more grace and knowledge from the 
Lord, or to make progress in respect to grace and knowl- 
edge. But it calls upon them rather to grow in spiritual 
strength by living in the atmosphere of the grace and 
truth of Christ. In other words, grace and truth are the 
elements in and by which the power and beauty of their 
new life are to be increased. They are the divinely 
appointed means of spiritual enlargement or sanctifi- 
cation. But, when the grace of Christ is thus distin- 
guished from his truth, the former refers to the work of 
the Holy Spirit, and the latter to the gospel. Sanctifica- 
tion, then, is carried forward by the influence of the Holy 
Spirit and of Christian truth upon the hearts of believers. 
This is the doctrine of Peter. 

Prayer of Christ. 

And the language of Christ in his prayer for his own 
implies the same doctrine; for that prayer, "Sanctify 
them in thy truth ; thy word is truth," ascribes the work 
of sanctification to God acting by his Spirit, but recog- 
nizes the Word of God as the element in which the work 
is to be accomplished. Accordingly believers are sancti- 
fied, not by the Spirit dwelling alone in the soul, and 
cleansing by his simple energy the susceptibilities and 
affections, regarded as the springs of moral life, but by 
the Spirit dwelling in the soul, and disposing it to seek 
and welcome the truth as it is in Jesus, by the Spirit 
revealing through the Word the things of Christ to the 
mind and heart. This view accounts for the description 
which John gives of Christ as " full of grace and truth," 
and for his statement, that "grace and truth came by 
Jesus Christ." It also explains the declaration of our 



HIGHER CHRISTIAN LIFE EXAMINED. 423 

Lord to his disciples, " The words which I have spoken 
to you, they are spirit and are life." Faith, hope, and 
love are filled with fresh life and vigor by the truth con- 
cerning Jesus, which was imparted to the apostles by 
his own lips, or by the Holy Spirit, and which is offered 
to us in the written Word. 

Eelation of the Spikit to the Word. 

Moreover, as the Scriptures present to our minds all 
the religious truth necessary to spiritual progress here, in 
language sufficiently clear and strong, it may probably be 
said without rashness that the work of the Spirit in sanc- 
titication now consists in opening the heart to receive 
that truth, in helping it recall the part of that truth 
which is most needed at any given moment for the soul's 
good, in moving it to plead with God for holy impulse to 
do his will, and in giving by direct action and the power 
of suggested truth that impulse to service. At any rate, 
the Holy Spirit does not take the place of the written 
Word, so that a devout Christian may expect to grow up 
to the stature of a perfect man without faithful study of 
the Scriptures. 

Looking again at the exhortation of Peter, " Grow in 
the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus 
Christ," it will be seen that this exhortation suggests 
more than growth and the objective means of this growth ; 
it suggests also some kind of voluntary agency in those 
addressed. Hence only can the form of exhortation be 
explained. And this voluntary agency cannot be limited 
to communion with God by prayer, study of the Scrip- 
tures, and meditation on the truth ; it also includes direct 
obedience to the will of God, or at least a willingness to 
obey. For our Lord affirms that " If any one is willing 



424 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

to do his will, lie shall know of the doctrine, whether it 
is of God, or whether I speak from myself." The spirit 
of obedience is therefore pre-requisite to a right view of 
Christian truth, just as a right view of that truth is pre- 
requisite to spiritual growth. A believer's progress in 
sanctification must therefore be determined in no small 
degree by his readiness to obey the commands of Christ. 
It is not, then, surprising that some are far in advance of 
others, nor should it be esteemed wonderful that many 
seem to make no progress at all. Yet there is reason to 
hope, that, wherever there is life, there is some kind of 
growth, and reason to believe that in no instance is that 
growth unobstructed by sin, till death comes, and the 
" old man " is left behind by the released spirit. 

Growth Variable. 

Another remark is perhaps necessary to a just state- 
ment of the case ; namely; that growth is not uniform 
through all the periods of Christian life. It varies with 
the seasons. It has times of cold and drought ; times 
when the inner currents are dull and slow ; times when 
darkness and storm prevail, and the very roots of faith 
are strained to the utmost ; times, therefore, when growth 
seems to be arrested. But it has also times of manifest 
and rapid advance, when all things within and without 
hasten it on, when heaven stoops with blessing, and holy 
sunlight and shower refresh the spirit ; times when the 
potencies of faith and love leap forth in a thousand cur- 
rents of surprising volume and purity ; times when one 
rises from a lower plane to a higher, as in a moment, and 
rejoices in a new sense of the divine grace ; and these 
times would be far more frequent if Christians were more 
given to prayer and labor. 



HIGHER CHRISTIAN LIFE EXAMINED. 425 



Pressing toward the Mark. 

Let no one be disheartened at the account now given 
of sanctification. Let no one doubt the wisdom of God 
in postponing our complete likeness to Christ till we see 
him as he is. Let no one feel that the lessons which he 
learns by earthly experience, after his eyes have been 
opened to the plague and bitterness of sin in his own 
heart, will be of no service to him hereafter. And let no 
one forget that ample provision has been made for his 
rapid spiritual growth and purification here on earth. 
But one day with the Lord is as a thousand years, and a 
thousand years as one day. His work is sure and for 
eternity. Meanwhile it is for us to look upon all sin with 
deep abhorrence, and upon perfect holiness with ardent 
desire. It is for us to imitate the apostle, and, forgetting 
the things behind, reach forth unto the things before, and 
press toward the mark for the prize of the heavenly call- 
ing in Christ Jesus. Our country is in heaven. Our true 
life is hid with Christ in God. We are on our way to a 
city that hath foundations ; and we cannot be too careful 
to live as strangers and pilgrims while in the flesh, " pur- 
suing Dutv, though we do not overtake her." 

We may not be translated by divine grace in a moment 
of time, from spiritual childhood to maturity ; but we 
may go from strength to strength, until every one of us 
shall appear before God in peace. The path which leads 
us from unbroken darkness to perpetual day may be 
" rough and long ; " but it will end at last in the celestial 
city, — error dissipated, selfishness overcome, love made 
perfect. There may be a great conflict here with the 
powers of evil within, but faith is sure of victory. Then 



426 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

let us press toward the mark ! Let us keep the end in 
view, and " so run, as not uncertainly ; so fight, as not 
beating the air." For "we do it to obtain an incor- 
ruptible crown/' Putting ourselves in company with the 
apostle, " let us run with patience the race set before us." 

" Strive, mail, to win the glory; 
Toil, man, to gain the light ; 
Send hope before to grasp it, 
Till hope be lost in sight." 

In his " Holy War," John Bunyan represents the Prince 
as warning his recovered Mansoul that there were some 
" friends of Diabolus," " sturdy and implacable," " yet re- 
maining in the town ; " and as saying on that account, 
" Wherefore, Mansoul, thy work as to this will be so 
much the more difficult and hard, — that is, to take, 
mortify, and put them to death, according to the will of 
my Father. Nor can you utterly rid yourselves of them 
unless you should pull down the walls of your town, the 
which I am by no means willing you should do." But he 
promises after a time to do this himself, " For yet a little 
while, O my Mansoul, even after a few more times are 
gone over thy head, I will take down this famous town 
of Mansoul, stick and stone, to the ground ; and I will 
carry the stones thereof, and the timber thereof, and the 
walls thereof, and the dust thereof, and the inhabitants 
thereof, into mine own country, even into a kingdom of 
my Father ; and I will there set it up in such strength 
and glory as it never did see in the kingdom where now 
it is placed. Then will I make it a spectacle of wonder, 
a monument of mercy, and the admirer of its own mercy. 
And then thou shalt, my Mansoul ! have such com- 
munion with me, with my Father, and with your lord 
secretary, as is not possible here to be enjoyed, nor even 



HIGHER CHRISTIAN LIFE EXAMINED. 427 

could be shouldst thou live in universe the space of a 
thousand years. There thou shalt not need captains, 
engines, soldiers, and men of war. There thou shalt 
meet with no sorrow nor grief ; nor shall it be possible 
that any Diabolian should again forever be able to creep 
into thy skirts, burrow in thy walls, or be seen again 
within thy borders, all the days of eternity. Life shall 
there last longer than here you are able to desire it 
should ; and yet it shall always be sweet and new, nor 
shall any impediment attend it forever." 



ON THE IMPOSITION OF HANDS IN 
OKDINATION. 

WE propose to give in this paper an exposition of 
certain passages in the New Testament, which 
are commonly supposed to justify and perhaps require 
the laying on of hands of the presbytery in setting men 
apart to the Christian ministry. But before looking at 
these passages, a few words may be said as to the mean- 
ing of the act in question. It will be admitted that the 
laying of a father's hand upon the head of his child when 
he invokes upon it a special blessing is a natural and 
therefore a significant act. It may not be easy to deter- 
mine the exact significance of the act, but the very fact 
that it is natural, spontaneous, proves that it has a mean- 
ing ; and if it has a meaning it is symbolical language. 

As to its general import in the case supposed, we 
suggest the following : The hand is the natural organ 
for giving, transferring, communicating ; and if any owner- 
ship, office, duty, or service, any blessing or claim to good, 
any curse or responsibility for evil, is to be put by one 
upon another, this cannot be signified by any act accom- 
panying the appropriate words, more naturally than by 
the laying on of hands. Now a father is the heaven- 
appointed guardian and guide of his child. It is his duty 



IMPOSITION OF HANDS IN ORDINATION. 429 

to study the nature, ability, spirit, and condition of that 
child. For the right ordering of its early life his author- 
ity should express and enforce the will of God. And 
often in due time he may transfer to his child some part 
of the ownership, stewardship, responsibility, or service 
which has belonged to himself. For instance, the blessing 
of God upon the chosen people, embracing a title to the 
land of Canaan, may be conceived as belonging for a time 
to Isaac ; and it was the will of Jehovah that it should 
be transmitted by a solemn act of this patriarch to one of 
his sons. God made choice of Jacob, and the father, in 
spite of his own purpose to the contrary, did solemnly 
pronounce Jacob to be the heir of the promise. His act 
in conveying the promise to Jacob was embraced in the 
plan of Jehovah, and in a sense the blessing of Jehovah 
was conditioned on the utterance of it by Isaac. Again, 
it would seem as if the particular blessing which God 
gave to the two sons of Joseph was conditioned on their 
being adopted by Jacob as his heirs, instead of Joseph, 
and on the crossing of Jacob's hand as he signified to 
Ephraim and Manasseh the portion of good that each 
should inherit. So, too, the blessing and inheritance of 
Israel was now divided by God through Jacob into twelve 
parts of unequal value, and assigned to the heads of the 
twelve tribes. 

Something more similar to the imposition of hands in 
ordination was required of the children of Israel when 
the Levites were set apart to the service of the sanctuary. 
For the Lord said unto Moses : " Thou shalt bring the 
Levites before the tabernacle of the congregation : and 
thou shalt gather the whole assembly of the children of 
Israel together : and thou shalt bring the Levites before 
the Lord : and the children of Israel shall put their hands 



430 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

upon the Levites," etc. And " this act " says the " Speak- 
er's Commentary," " the distinguishing feature of the cere- 
mony, represented the transfer to the Levites of the sacred 
duties originally incumbent on the whole people. At 
God's command the people solemnly assigned to the sons 
of Levi what in an important sense belonged to them." 

Eeference may be made to another instance. "The 
Lord said unto Moses, Take thee Joshua the son of Nun, 
a man in whom is the Spirit, and lay thine hand upon 
him, and set him before Eleazar the priest, and before all 
the congregation ; and give him a charge in their sight. 
And thou shalt put some of thine honor upon him, that 
all the congregation of the children of Israel may be 
obedient. . . . And Moses did as the Lord commanded 
him." Here the laying on of hands was intended to rep- 
resent Moses as transferring to Joshua, in obedience to 
God's will, a share in the office he was holding, that is, 
in his leadership of the people. It was God who had 
qualified and chosen Joshua to be a leader, under Moses ; 
yet, he did not enter upon his office until Moses had 
publicly, by a solemn emblematic act, committed to him 
his new office. Earthly order was found consistent with 
divine authority. 

Turning now to the New Testament, we find these 
words in the Acts of the Apostles (viii. 14-17), "And the 
apostles at Jerusalem, hearing that Samaria had received 
the Word of God, sent to them Peter and John ; who, 
having come down, prayed for them that they might 
receive the Holy Spirit. For he had not yet fallen upon 
any of them ; but they had only been baptized in the 
name of the Lord Jesus. Then they laid their hands 
on them, and they received the Holy Spirit." From the 
accompanying narrative it may be surely inferred that 



IMPOSITION OF HANDS IN ORDINATION. 431 

the Samaritan disciples received extraordinary gifts of 
the Spirit, similar to those which the apostles received 
on the day of Pentecost. Some of them were doubtless 
enabled to work miracles, to speak with tongues, or to 
prophesy. And such results appear to have followed the 
laying on of the apostles' hands in other cases, while they 
did not follow the same act when performed by any one 
else. Now when we consider the pre-eminent endow- 
ments of the apostles and their relation to the ordering 
of all things in the churches, when we compare the result 
of the imposition of hands by them with the result in 
other cases, and when we look at the instances referred 
to in the Old Testament in the light of those mentioned 
in the New, we naturally conclude that the imposition of 
hands was suitable when, and only when, an endowment, 
office, obligation, or service, which appertains to him who 
performs the act, is to be committed in part or wholly 
to another, and when, also, in the wisdom of God, the 
former is entrusted with some responsibility as to the 
appointment or induction into office of the latter. This 
statement is suggested by a review of the instances of 
laying on of hands recorded in the Bible, and will be of 
use to us in studying the passages which relate to ordina- 
tion for service in the Christian ministry. 

Let us begin with Hebrews vi. 2 : " Not laying again 
the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of 
faith toward God, of the doctrine of baptisms, and of the 
laying on of hands, and of resurrection of the dead, and 
of eternal judgment." These are spoken of by the writer 
as "the first principles of the doctrine of Christ," and 
they are certainly matters which would be likely to en- 
gage the attention of persons just converted. It will be 
observed that " the doctrine of the laying on of hands " is 



432 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

associated with that of "baptisms;" and as the expression 
" a doctrine of baptisms," must signify Christian teaching 
either in respect to baptism in water and baptism in the 
Holy Spirit, or in respect to Jewish and Christian bap- 
tisms distinctly, so the expression a doctrine " of laying 
on of hands " must signify Christian teaching in respect to 
this act as used in the churches, or possibly as used by 
Jews in former times and now by Christians. And this 
at least may be inferred from the connection in which 
the doctrine of the laying on of hands is now mentioned, 
that it was regarded as a very significant and important 
act, an act that should be understood by all Christians, 
even those who had just commenced their new life. 
Eepentance, faith, baptism, laying on of hands, resurrec- 
tion, eternal judgment, — is it likely that one and only 
one of these was temporary, and now ready to vanish 
away ? Or is it likely that if the doctrine of baptisms 
embraced an explanation of the true meaning and plan of 
the various ritual immersions under the old economy and 
under the new, that the doctrine of the laying on of hands 
only referred to the use of this rite in receiving members 
into the Church ? 

The next passage to which I would call attention reads 
as follows (Acts xiii. 1-3): "And there were at Antioch, 
in the Church that was there, prophets and teachers ; 
Barnabas, and Simeon who was called Niger, and Lucius 
the Cyrenian, and Manaen the foster-brother of Herod 
the tetrarch, and Saul. And while they were ministering 
to the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said : Sat apart 
for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have 
called them. Then, after they had fasted and prayed, and 
laid their hands on them, they sent them away." This 
passage is very disappointing to one who seeks light as to 



IMPOSITION OF HANDS IN ORDINATION. 433 

the imposition of hands in ordination ; for the service to 
which Barnabas and Saul were set apart was not that of 
the ministry in general but that of carrying the gospel to 
the heathen. They were already distinguished preachers 
of the Word, and one of them was an apostle. But this 
may be learned from the narrative : (1) that imposition 
of hands was esteemed proper in apostolic times, and by 
inspired men, when ministers of Christ were to be en- 
trusted with a great and special work which belonged in 
a sense to all; and (2) that this symbolical act was 
deemed proper even when no peculiar gift of the Spirit 
was expected to accompany it ; when it could only signify 
the commitment of a trust and responsibility and duty to 
faithful men, and not the bestowal of a blessing upon 
them. We may also infer from this narrative that, if 
persons were set apart by. any religious ceremony or ser- 
vice to the work of the ministry, as their calling, that 
ceremony included the laying on of hands and prayer; 
for the reasons which called for these in setting men 
apart to a particular service in the ministry, must call for 
them yet more loudly in setting men apart to the work 
of the ministry as a whole. 

But the passage before us says nothing of the part, if 
any, which the Church in Antioch took in setting Barna- 
bas and Saul apart to the special work assigned them by 
the Spirit of God. Judging by other instances of Chris- 
tian life in that age, it may, however, be safe to assume 
that the five prophets and teachers who are named by 
Luke did not go through this transaction by themselves, 
but rather in connection with the Church. And this 
conclusion is slightly strengthened by the word Xeirovp- 
yovvrcov, "while they were ministering," which most 

naturally refers to some kind of public worship. 

28 



434 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

The first part of the sixth chapter of the Acts may 
next be considered. Here it is said that " they (the 
apostles) called the multitude of the disciples to them 
and said: 'It is not proper that we should leave the 
Word of God, and serve tables. Therefore, brethren, look 
ye out among you seven men of good repute, full of the 
Holy Spirit and of wisdom, whom we will appoint over 
this business.' The saying pleased the whole multitude," 
and they chose seven men "whom they set before the 
apostles; and having prayed, they laid their hands on 
them." Now this account illustrates very fully and beau- 
tifully the meaning and propriety of the imposition of 
hands in consecrating men to the ministry. For though 
the seven men were not set apart to the gospel ministry, 
they were set apart to a service which had been per- 
formed thus far by the apostles, and which only men 
who were full of the Holy Spirit and of wisdom could 
rightly perform. The service was semi-spiritual, at least, 
and some of those who were put in charge of it proved 
to be able ministers of the Word. Though deacons, they 
were evangelists. But it is noteworthy that the imposi- 
tion of hands was not, in this case, with a view to any 
new and special communication of the Spirit. They were 
chosen because they were already full of the Holy Spirit 
and of wisdom, and nothing is said of any additional gift 
in consequence of the apostles' prayer or imposition of 
hands. Manifestly a service was committed to them, and 
by those who had been themselves trying to perform it. 
The apostles transferred to them a part of their work, and 
signified this by the laying of their hands upon them. 
In this case we see, what we did not in the one previously 
examined, that the whole body of the Church took part 
in the transaction ; for the multitude made choice of the 



IMPOSITION OF HANDS IN ORDINATION. 435 

men who should relieve the apostles of a portion of their 
care. And from this narrative it is safe to infer that 
pastors were set apart to the work of the ministry by the 
imposition of hands. For if the lower office called for 
this ceremony, much more did the higher. 

Passing now to 1 Timothy iv. 14, we find these words : 
" Neglect not the gift that is in thee, which was given 
thee through prophecy with the laying on of the hands of 
the eldership." With this may be connected an expres- 
sion in 2 Timothy i. 6 : " For which cause I put thee in 
remembrance, that thou stir up the gift of God, which 
is in thee by the laying on of my hands." It may be 
remarked, in the first place, that at some time Timothy 
had received the imposition of hands by the eldership ; 
and we have no account of such an act when one was 
received into the Church. It is almost certain that Paul 
referred to the solemn services by which Timothy was 
entrusted with the ministry of reconciliation. And it is 
probable, if not certain, that Paul was present at the 
ordination of Timothy, and that the imposition of his own 
apostolic hands was the symbol and occasion of some 
special gift to his true child in the faith. For the second 
passage makes it plain that Paul regarded his own con- 
nection with the service as in some way the occasion of 
that gift. And this agrees with our general statement, 
that the imposition of hands was suitable when, and only 
when, an endowment, office, or service, which appertains 
to him who performs the symbolical act, is to be com- 
mitted in part or wholly to another. But it is to be 
observed that the eldership, and not merely Paul, laid 
hands upon Timothy, while the special gift was due to 
the apostle's act. Why, then, did others join in the cere- 
mony ? Evidently because their act had a propriety and 



436 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

significance apart from the gift referred to. Evidently, 
because pastors who were not prophets, and had no spirit- 
ual gifts in charge, had certain relations to the ministry 
which made their act natural and significant. They had 
such relations, in fact; and the meaning of their acts 
must have been equivalent to these words, " In harmony 
with the law and order of Christ's kingdom, and with the 
evidence which we have that he has called you to this 
work, we put upon you the honor, the authority, the 
privilege, and the duty of taking part in this ministry. 
Under Christ we are charged with seeing that it be not 
degraded by unworthy men, and with entrusting it to 
those who are worthy. We believe that you have been 
counted faithful by him, and we therefore commit to you 
this blessed office and responsible work." 

This, I believe, was the import of laying on of hands 
by the eldership in the apostolic age ; and it is the mean- 
ing which should be ascribed to the act now. Order is 
heaven's first law. Suitable means should be used to 
prevent unworthy and incompetent men from entering 
the ministry. Those who have been themselves in the 
service understand better than others the nature of it, 
and the qualifications which it presupposes. It is there- 
fore evident why an important place should be given 
them in receiving men into the ministry. Certainly such 
a place has been given them, and they should not shrink 
from filling it conscientiously. 

There is another passage in the First Epistle to Timo- 
thy which deserves attention, and which confirms what 
I have just said. It is this: "Lay hands suddenly on no 
one ; neither be partakers of the sins of others." After a 
very careful examination of this passage, I became fully 
satisfied that it was directed against the hasty ordination 



IMPOSITION OF HANDS IN ORDINATION. 437 

of candidates for the ministry. Timothy and those with 
whom he was to act, or those who were to act under 
his instruction received from Paul, were not inspired. 
They were to judge of the qualifications of men for the 
sacred office, as we are to judge of the same ; and they 
were to commit that office to them with no other light 
than we may have in doing such an act. Paul had there- 
fore mentioned in detail the most important qualifications 
for the ministry, and he now cautions Timothy against 
haste in concluding that men have these qualifications. 
Time for trial and proof is important in every case. No 
one should be intrusted with the sacred office who is a 
new convert, no one who has not given proof, by a con- 
siderable period of wise and faithful service in the Church, 
that he is fit to be a leader of God's people. Those who 
lay hands on one who has not been proved in this way, 
will be held in some measure accountable for the sins 
which he may commit and the evil which he may do in 
the sacred office. 

It will be observed that my topic has not led me to 
speak of the relation of any church or churches to the 
laying on of hands in ordination. It is, however, quite 
possible that the elders who officiate in the service should 
be regarded as acting for the churches fully as much as 
for themselves, — just as the congregation of Israel was 
probably represented by the elders of the several tribes 
whose hands were laid upon the Levites in the instance 
already noticed. Yet it is evident that the imposition of 
hands in the apostolic age was by the elders or pastors ; 
and whether we look at their relation to the ministry, or 
to the churches, they were the fittest persons to perform 
this service. 

It will be observed that we have not spoken of the 



438 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

imposition of hands as a symbolical invocation of blessing 
on the person ordained. Possibly it was sometimes used 
with that significance ; but the Scriptural evidence of 
such a use does not seem to be conclusive. When Christ 
put his hands on the children and blessed them, his rela- 
tion to them was not simply that of one who prayed for 
them. In a word, according to Scripture, imposition of 
hands does something else than to emphasize prayer. It 
is rather accompanied by prayer ; the duty or service 
which is put upon one by this significant act is a duty 
or service which he needs divine grace to perform ; and 
therefore the imposition of hands cannot be too closely 
connected with fervent and special prayer. But it is not 
itself a prayer, nor a mere accompaniment of prayer. It 
is only appropriate when some special office, responsibility, 
power, or service is intrusted to one. 

The conclusions to which this examination has led may 
be summed up in the following propositions : — 

1. That, according to the New Testament, imposition 
of hands by pastors is properly included in a service of 
ordination to the Christian ministry. 

2. That this act, more than any other, represents and 
declares the decision of the council to set one apart to 
the Christian ministry, and therefore it ought not to be 
omitted. 

3. That by rejecting the imposition of hands at ordina- 
tion, one rejects an important public act which represents 
a part of the order of Christ's kingdom. And, trusting to 
reason for guidance, it may perhaps be added — 

4. That since what is represented, and declared, by the 
imposition of hands is authorized by a council when it 
votes to set one apart to the Christian ministry, the vote 
asserts as much authority as the imposition of hands; 



IMPOSITION OF HANDS IN ORDINATION. 439 

and if the vote is not on that account objectionable, 
neither is the imposition of hands. 

Yet if we look upon ordination, not as a sacrament 
imparting inward and official grace, but as a ceremony 
investing the candidate with a right to do the work of a 
bishop in the churches, it may be added — 

5. That the decision of a properly organized council, 
made after careful examination, that the candidate is 
qualified for the work of the ministry, and should be 
intrusted with that office and commended to the churches 
by a public and solemn service, is the strictly indispen- 
sable act. A suitable announcement of this decision is a 
matter of great importance ; but the decision itself and 
its publication in some way are indispensable. And in 
its publication, as far as I can judge, the imposition of 
hands is fully as important as the prayer of ordination, 
the right hand of fellowship, or the charge. 



PEEPAEATION FOE THE MINISTEY. 

Holding fast the faithful word as he hath been taught, that he 
may be able by sound doctrine both to exhort and to convince the 
gainsayers. — Titus i. 9. 

And the things that thou hast heard of me among many wit- 
nesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to 
teach others also. — 2 Tim. ii. 2. 

BEGINNING with the passage in Titus, and connect- 
ing its first clause with the foregoing grammatical 
subject, we learn that a Christian bishop must be one 
who holds -fast the faithful word as he has been taught. 
He must be one who clings, not to human speculation 
or intuition, but to revealed truth, which is sure, and 
worthy of all acceptance. He must be, not a rationalist, 
who leans to his own understanding, nor a mystic, who 
surrenders himself to the impulses of his own fancy or 
feeling, but an educated Christian, who knows and loves, 
and retains with the grasp of intelligent faith, that sys- 
tem of truth which was taught by Christ and his apostles. 
Paul goes on to specify in the last clause two reasons 
why a pastor or bishop must possess this qualification : 
namely, first, that he may be able to exhort with sound 
doctrine ; and secondly, that he may able to convince the 
gainsayers. Many are they who need to be fed with the 
truth and stimulated to greater zeal ; and it is the pas- 
tor's duty to perform this work. Many, too, are they 



PREPARATION FOR THE MINISTRY. 441 

" whose mouths must be stopped," lest by sophistry and 
ridicule they " subvert whole houses ; " and it is the pas- 
tor's duty to accomplish this task also. He is to " feed 
the Church of God," and " turn to flight the armies of the 
aliens." 

This, then, is the pastor's work. If, now, we examine 
the passage in Timothy, it will tell us in part how he is 
to be qualified for its performance. For Paul there di- 
rects Timothy to commit the Christian doctrines, which 
he has heard from the Apostle, unto faithful men, who as 
such, having received this knowledge, would be able in 
their turn to teach others also. And by the expression 
" others also," we are referred, according to the best view 
of our text, not to men in general, who must needs be 
taught the way of life, or " stumble on the dark moun- 
tains," but to those who should be, like themselves, in a 
special sense, " stewards of God." Moreover, if the " oth- 
ers " here contemplated are faithful men looking forward 
to the pastoral office, the teaching here enjoined must be 
somewhat over and above that which is necessary to 
qualify one for the Christian duties of ordinary life, 
something indeed which may be fitly called a ministerial 
or theological education. This view is supported by the 
preceding clause, which calls upon Timothy to commit 
what he had heard to " faithful men ; " to men, therefore, 
who were already tried and trustworthy believers, ac- 
quainted with the chief doctrines of Christianity, but 
who were yet in need of fuller knowledge that they 
might be able suitably to perform their special work. 
We are therefore justified in saying that Paul's language 
now before us indicates the process by which God designs 
to perpetuate in the church a class of true-hearted and 
well-instructed preachers of his Word. It provides for 



442 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

those who are to become " pastors and teachers " under 
Christ a course of preparatory theological instruction, 
and by implication makes it their duty, as a general rule, 
to avail themselves of the same. 

We believe it has been shown by this brief explana- 
tion that Paul's language in the two passages of our text 
has an important bearing on the subject of ministerial 
education. 

And it should be remembered that his letters to Timo- 
thy and Titus were written near the close of his life. At 
that time numerous churches had been gathered in almost 
every province of the Eoman Empire ; many communities 
had been long familiar with the preacher's voice ; the 
first principles of the gospel were widely known ; oppo- 
sition had become organized and skilful ; miraculous gifts 
and apostolic wisdom were about to cease ; and the con- 
flict between Christianity and the world had assumed its 
permanent character. It may therefore be affirmed with- 
out fear that no qualification for the pastoral office which 
the Apostle then pronounced necessary can be safely dis- 
pensed with at the present day. If the duties of a Chris- 
tian pastor have been modified at all by the lapse of time 
and the changes of society, it is certain that they have 
become, not less, but more arduous than at first, demand- 
ing greater intellectual and spiritual power for their per- 
formance than ever before. Hence, relying upon the au- 
thority of Paul, we make the following proposition our 
theme, namely : — 

That a course of theological study is eminently desirable 
for those who are about to enter the Christian ministry. 

Let me be well understood. To depreciate the useful- 
ness of ministers who have never taken such a course is 
no part of my design in the present discussion. Many of 



PREPARATION FOR THE MINISTRY. 443 

this class have been signally honored by the Saviour. 
Their sound judgment, practical energy, deep experience, 
fervent piety, and persuasive eloquence, have placed them 
in the front rank of champions for the truth, and have 
endeared them to all genuine believers. We venerate 
the names of John Bunyan, Andrew Fuller, and Thomas 
Baldwin. We believe with all the heart that " Christ 
Jesus counted them faithful, putting them into the min- 
istry." We recognize also with grateful joy the wisdom 
and efficiency of numerous pastors in our own land who 
have been led to omit all preparatory study, whether 
classical or theological, and to enter at once upon their 
holy work. They will, it cannot be doubted, have many 
and able successors ; and the ministry of our denomina- 
tion will, be largely augmented by noble men who pass 
directly from other callings to its blessed service. Not a 
few of these will be justified, we believe, by their ad- 
vanced age and domestic relations, and superior intelli- 
gence in omitting a course of preparatory study. Their 
action in this matter will not result from any reluctance 
to put forth the self-denying, persistent efforts required 
of a faithful student, but from a conviction that the sum 
of their usefulness will be made the greatest by entering 
at once upon their ministerial work. 

Whether, however, some by taking this course may not 
neglect a more excellent way, and so fail of the great- 
est possible usefulness, is a question worthy of patient 
thought. For although one may be very efficient in his 
Master's service, we are not thereby forbidden to suppose 
that he might have been still more efficient. Although 
his labors may be attended by the blessing of God, we 
are not therefore to conclude that his way has been 
perfect and all his decisions right. Good and evil are 



444 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

strangely mingled in this life, and heavenly aid is granted 
to those who often mistake the path of duty. Indeed, 
no " demonstration of the Spirit " could ever be associated 
with human agency in preaching the gospel, were it with- 
held until men should appear whose action conformed 
itself throughout to the Divine will. Hence great suc- 
cess in the ministry of reconciliation neither shows that 
greater success was impossible, nor proves that a more 
deliberate and studious preparation for the work was 
undesirable. This remark will be confirmed in the sequel 
of our discourse by a reference to the usefulness of many 
in different periods of the church who have made such a 
preparation. 

Meanwhile it remits us to the Word of God as the 
chief source of light upon our subject. And we shall 
therefore appeal to this ultimate authority for instruction. 
We affirm, then, that preparatory theological study is ex- 
ceedingly desirable for those who are about to enter the 
Christian ministry, in view of their contemplated work as 
described by the pen of inspiration. 

We have in mind those, and those only, who are 
looking forward to the pastoral office. And the work 
of every pastor has for its object not only the spiritual 
good of his own flock, but also the spread of truth for 
the glory of God throughout the world. Accordingly, we 
must examine the nature and extent of that work in 
each of these directions. We begin with the labor of a 
Christian pastor for his own church and people. 

To these he must " preach the Word." That we may 
ascertain the meaning of this expression, and have a just 
conception of the service which it enjoins, we must ex- 
amine the leading terms employed by sacred writers in 
describing the work itself, as well as the message which 



PREPARATION FOR THE MINISTRY. 4-45 

it conveys. Of the former class, or those which describe 
the work itself, one signifies " to announce publicly ; " 
another means "to proclaim good news," and a third finds 
its precise equivalent in our verb " to teach." The first 
is translated simply "to preach," and characterizes the 
act of announcement as open or public; the second is 
rendered by the phrase " to preach the gospel," and char- 
acterizes the message as favorable to thoss addressed ; 
but neither of them assigns any limit to the extent or 
complexity of this message ; neither of them affirms the 
ability or readiness of those addressed to comprehend 
its import; neither of them intimates how fully and 
repeatedly and persuasively it must be set forth and 
explained. 

Now, if men were everywhere convinced of their 
alienation from God and exposure to his wrath ; if they 
were filled with intense anxiety at their condition, and 
unutterable dread of approaching ruin ; if they were 
waiting with breathless suspense and alternate hope and 
despair for Jehovah's message, and were pale with desire 
and longing to receive a Monarch's pardon and enjoy a 
Father's smile ; then, indeed, might willingness of heart 
and strength of voice wellnigh equip the herald of salva- 
tion ; then might knowledge, and discipline, and experi- 
ence be esteemed of small account, and the preacher 
hasten on from house to house, and city to city, and 
land to land, every heart leaping for joy at his message, 
every voice echoing the cry of pardon from his lips, and 
a universal shout of jubilee quickly proclaiming the 
world's millennium. 

But alas, it is not so. With rare exceptions men are 
almost unconscious of their estrangement from God, 
and sadly indifferent to his wrath. Unbelief pervades 



446 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

and benumbs the spirit. Pride refuses to hear the voice 
of rebuke and pity. Selfishness denies the possibility 
of supreme devotion. Appetite clamors for present in- 
dulgence. And God is excluded from the guilty soul. 
In him it has no delight; to him it gives no honor; 
from him it desires no message. His being is some- 
times doubted ; his providence is often denied ; and 
his government is boldly pronounced unequal and 
severe. 

But of all messages from Jehovah, one that proclaims 
salvation as a free gift, on the basis of an atonement, is 
the most unwelcome. To the "Jews it is a stumbling- 
block, and to the Greeks foolishness." Multitudes, by 
reason of prejudice or superstition, are unprepared to 
hear it with candor ; and yet other multitudes, by reason 
of spiritual ignorance and stupor, are unable to receive 
it as " joyful news." Hence, if the preaching of such a 
message is to be of any real service in leading men to 
Christ, this preaching must consist of something more 
than a bare announcement of pardon. It must appeal 
to intellect, reason, and conscience ; it must instruct, con- 
vince, and alarm. It must not only summon the town 
of Mansoul to receive her Prince, but, in case of refusal, 
beleaguer the same on every side, plant all the batteries 
of truth against her walls, and ply each weapon of as- 
sault with exhaustless energy. Whoever, as a preacher 
of the gospel, undertakes to besiege this stronghold of 
darkness and of pride, must himself put on the armor 
of light, must take the "sword of the Spirit, which is 
the Word of God," " quick and powerful, and is a dis- 
cerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart." A 
knowledge of this weapon is strictly indispensable, for 
no other will prosper in such a conflict. 



PREPARATION FOR THE MINISTRY. 447 

And what is thus shown by observation to be neces- 
sary, is fully authorized by the language of Scripture. 
For the work of a Christian herald is often expressed, 
as we have seen, by a third term, which signifies "to 
teach." When the Evangelist would introduce Christ's 
Sermon on the Mount, he says that our Saviour " opened 
His mouth and taught them." And a brief examination 
will convince any one that although Christ's public ad- 
dresses are frequently denominated " preaching," they are 
yet more frequently denominated " teaching." Moreover, 
we find that shortly after his ascension, many of the 
Jews were indignant at the apostles because "they taught 
the people, and preached through Jesus the resurrection 
from the dead." Threatening and imprisonment were 
of no avail. "Daily in the temple and in every house 
they ceased not to teach and preach Jesus Christ." Paul 
repeatedly declares himself to be " a teacher of the 
Gentiles," and represents the truth of Christianity as a 
doctrine or teaching which is able to edify or nourish up 
the believer. And in his first letter to Timothy, this 
great apostle, after exhibiting various Christian truths 
and duties, proceeds to say : " These things command 
and teach. Let no man despise thy youth." 1 Then, 
alluding to certain parts of the public worship of Chris- 
tians at that time, he uses this language : " Till I come, 
give attendance to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine;" 
showing that a good pastor was then expected, in con- 
ducting the public worship of God, to read some portion 
of the Sacred Eecord, to encourage and stimulate his 
brethren by practical remarks, and to instruct them in 
the principles of their holy religion. In a second letter 
to the same person he exhorts : " Study to show thyself 

1 1 Tim. iv. 11-13. 



448 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be 
ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth." x And 
again : " Keprove, rebuke, exhort with all long-suffering 
and doctrine ; for the time will come when they will not 
endure sound doctrine." 2 More than once, also, does he 
specify aptness or ability to teach as a qualification for 
the pastoral office ; and he pronounces " the elders that 
rule well " to be " worthy of double honor, especially those 
who labor in the word and doctrine." 3 And finally, in 
enumerating the gifts which Christ bestows upon the 
Church, he alludes to an important characteristic of 
" pastors " by calling them also " teachers." 4 

Let it also be remembered that, in order to fulfil his 
calling as a religious teacher, the minister of Christ must 
not only present the elements of truth to minds dark- 
ened by sin, but also " feed the church of God, which 
he has purchased with his own blood ; " 5 or, appropri- 
ating another sentence of Paul, "Warn every man, and 
teach every man, in all wisdom, that he may be able 
to present every man perfect in Christ Jesus." 6 A 
proper discharge of this great duty requires deeper in- 
sight, larger comprehension, superior knowledge, in the 
realm of spiritual truth, on the part of him who teaches, 
than are possessed by his people. It was said, we be- 
lieve, by one who depreciated study in order to exalt 
grace, that " God has no need of our learning." And 
it was replied that " he has qui'te as little need of our 
ignorance." This answer goes to the heart of the argu- 
ment. God employs men in his service, not because he 
needs their assistance, but because in his own wisdom 

1 2 Tim. ii. 15. 2 2 Tim. iv. 2, 3. 

8 1 Tim. v. 17. 4 Eph. iv. 11. 

6 Acts xx. 28. 6 Col. i. 28. 



PREPARATION FOR THE MINISTRY. 449 

and benevolence he is pleased to employ them. But in 
making use of their agency for the diffusion of truth and 
the salvation of men, he does not abrogate those general 
laws of action and influence which he has himself or- 
dained. In calling men to any kind of spiritual labor, 
he has respect to their natural or acquired fitness to 
perform it. Knowledge is therefore indispensable to the 
religious teacher ; and, indeed, a more thorough and per- 
fect knowledge of that which he is set apart to teach 
than is found in those for whom he " labors in the word 
and doctrine." This self-evident truth is recognized by 
Paul's language to the Hebrew Christians, the import 
of which may be thus given : " Although in view of the 
time which has passed since your conversion, ye ought to 
be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which 
be the first principles of the oracles of God." 1 Here the 
fact is clearly asserted that a teacher of Christian truth 
needs a larger amount of knowledge than others. But 
we have failed to discover anything in the Word of God 
or the lessons of history which shows how far such a 
teacher may be in advance of his people without endan- 
gering his influence. We have never been able to as- 
certain the maximum of difference between the two 
consistent with a pastor's greatest usefulness ; or, in 
other words, the limits within which the latter should 
confine his search after truth, lest it carry him in thought 
and speech above the comprehension of his hearers. But 
of one thing we are confident, — that no pastor in our 
land, whose heart glows with love to Christ and the 
souls of men, finds his intellectual powers too vigorous, 
or his mind too richly laden with truth. And we are 
equally confident that no minister of Christ among us 

1 Heb. v. 12. 
29 



450 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

excels the members of his flock in knowledge so much 
as San Quala excelled the wild and simple Karens 
whom he taught the way of life, or as Paul excelled 
the rude Lycaonians and Galatians to whom he preached 
the only gospel. 

Having thus endeavored to estimate the work of 
preaching by means of the principal terms used in the 
Word of God to describe it, we now proceed in quest of 
further light to examine the message itself which is to 
be delivered. This message is variously denominated 
" the word," " the truth," " the gospel," " the oracles of 
God," " the Scriptures," etc. It embraces every doctrine 
and fact, every argument and remonstrance, every proph- 
ecy and promise, every warning and counsel, in the 
whole Bible. For " every Scripture is given by inspira- 
tion of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for 
correction, for instruction in righteousness ; that the man 
of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good 
works." 2 The Bible contains the pastor's message ; and 
judged by its fitness to advance the spiritual good of 
man, it is absolutely perfect. In it there is no excess 
or defect, no superfluous instruction or fatal silence. It 
should therefore be the aim and effort of every Christian 
minister to exhibit, portion by portion, this great message, 
in all its blessed fulness, to those for whom he labors. 

But to accomplish such a work, his preaching must be 
often doctrinal. It will be necessary for him to discuss 
over again with Paul the cardinal truths of Christianity ; 
for these are the strength of renewed souls. These are 
the heavenly manna sent by a merciful Father to his 
weary children for their refreshment and delight. Hence 

1 2 Tim. iii. 16, 17. 



PREPARATION FOR THE MINISTRY. 451 

the Apostle looked forward with deep sadness to the time 
when, as he declares, " they will not endure sound doc- 
trine, but after their own lusts heap to themselves teach- 
ers, having itching ears." 1 There can be little depth of 
piety, my brethren, little spiritual power, in a church 
whose members do not listen with conscious satisfaction 
and profit to sound doctrinal preaching. Moreover, it is 
this kind of preaching which, perhaps more than any 
other, finds out the moralist in his guilt, and awakens 
his slumbering conscience. It pierces him with divine 
arrows. Eeason may have beaten out, plate by plate, and 
bound together with links of steel, a coat of mail to ward 
off these arrows of God ; but let not the preacher de- 
spair ; for between the joints of that labored harness will 
some appointed shaft, though shot at a venture by his 
hand, find its way to the heart which is dreaming of 
security within. The doctrines of Christianity ! how- 
simple, how profound, how vital ! Who of us can say 
that he has taken up in thought these divine ideas, ab- 
sorbed them into his spirit, and reproduced them in fit- 
ting language for the good of others ? Who has listened 
to the grand undertones of harmony which bind them 
together, or has appreciated their adaptation to the 
human soul in all its exigencies of transport and despair ? 
Who has studied them in the original tongues with 
solemn prayer, and has not perceived in them a deeper 
beauty and fresher life than before ? Who has achieved 
this labor for the love of God, and has not been aided 
thereby in proclaiming them with the full assurance of 
faith to his fellow-men ? 

We remark, again, that if any pastor would proclaim 
the truth in all its power, his preaching must sometimes 

1 2 Tim. iv. 3. 



452 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

be polemical. Not a few of Zion's watchmen, there is rea- 
son to fear, hesitate to give the alarm when her enemies 
approach. They never shrink from toil in building up 
her walls and adorning her palaces with truth ; but 
when a subtle foe, a teacher of falsehood, presses for 
admission, their hearts are troubled. The prospect of 
being charged with illiberality, exclusiveness, or bigotry, 
fills them with terror. They resolve to illustrate all the 
charities and amenities and neighborly offices of a pure 
religion ; hoping thus, it may be, to disarm the foe by 
love, or at least to atone for criminal neglect in one direc- 
tion by extra fidelity in another. But this disposition 
to seek the good-will of men by avoiding all explicit 
opposition to their errors is exceedingly dangerous. The 
language of Christ, "I came not to send peace, but a 
sword," 1 is still true. The words of John, " If there 
come any unto you, and bring not this doctrine, receive 
him not into your house, neither bid him God speed," 2 
have lost none of their force and pertinency as a rule for 
the treatment of false teachers. In a very important 
sense Christianity is exclusive and even denunciatory. 
It pronounces all other religions false. Its divine author 
asserted, with dreadful emphasis, the guilt of those who 
rejected his word. The apostles did the same, and stren- 
uously taught that besides the name of Christ, " there 
is none other name under heaven given among men 
whereby we must be saved." 3 And when Paul heard 
that there were some in Galatia who troubled the 
churches, " and would subvert the gospel of Christ," how 
promptly and earnestly and decisively did he oppose and 
refute them ! How startling and solemn the words of 
his anathema : " Though we, or an angel from heaven, 
i Matt. x. 34. 2 2 John, 10. 3 Acts iv. 12. 



PREPARATION FOR THE MINISTRY. 453 

preach any other gospel unto you than that which we 
have preached unto you, let him be accursed." 1 Nor will 
the strange scene at Antioch be forgotten, when this 
upright and courageous apostle withstood Peter to his 
face, " because he was to be blamed ; " 2 not for teaching 
atheism or immorality, but for indorsing, by silent acqui- 
escence, a seemingly stricter view of Christianity itself. 
You will also remember that one reason given by Paul 
why a bishop must be a man " holding fast the faithful 
doctrine as he hath been taught," is that " he may be 
able to convince [or refute] the gainsayers." And these 
gainsayers are described as " unruly and vain talkers and 
deceivers, — who subvert whole houses, teaching things 
which they ought not, for filthy lucre's sake." But if an 
ability to cope with the advocates of error, and to expose 
the sophistry of their teaching, was requisite to qualify 
one for the pastoral office in the primitive church, can 
it be unimportant now ? Have the inventors of false- 
hood become extinct ? Have the unlearned and unstable 
who wrest the Scriptures passed away ? Are there no 
divisions, no heresies, no false philosophies, no lying 
spirits, among us ? Is it not rather true that the battle 
between Christianity and ungodliness waxes hotter every 
day ? Is it not true that perverted learning and shrewd 
ignorance, that fierce blasphemy and smiling treachery, 
unite their forces to shake the Christian's faith ? And 
shall the shepherd suffer these wolves to tear his flock ? 
Shall he not arm himself with the " sword of the Spirit," 
and by the grace of God scatter them as chaff before the 
wind ? If this be his duty, it is arduous. If this be a 
part of his work, he may well be deliberate and thorough 
in preparing for it. 

1 Gal. i. 7-9. 2 Gal. ii. 11, seq. 



454 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

But we must proceed a little and show that if a pastor 
would suitably present the word of life, his preaching 
must occasionally be evidential. It must set forth the 
" infallible proofs " of Christianity. 1 It must show that 
we have not followed cunningly devised fables in making 
known the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, 
but the reliable testimony of those who were eye-witnesses 
of his majesty. It must treat, when occasion demands, of 
the origin, collection, and transmission of the Scriptures, 
must point out with clearness the bearing of miracles and 
prophecy, of inward harmonies and unsought coincidences, 
upon the doctrine of inspiration, and must demonstrate 
that one who traces the Bible to a simply human origin is 
incomparably more credulous than one who finds its real 
author in God. 

It is readily admitted by intelligent believers that 
Christianity employs all the faculties of the soul, calling 
upon us to reason and discriminate as well as to feel and 
to trust ; that it appeals to human testimony in proof of 
facts which are vital and essential to the system ; and 
that it challenges investigation in respect to every point 
which lies within the compass of our limited understand- 
ing. Accordingly, we learn that shortly after the ascen- 
sion of Christ, " with great power gave the apostles wit- 
ness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus ; " 2 and, at a 
later period, we find Paul not only declaring that Christ 
" rose again the third day," but also, in order to establish , 
this fact, that " he was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve ; 
after that, he was seen of above five hundred brethren at 
once, of whom the greater part remain unto this present, 
but some are fallen asleep ; after that, he was seen of 
James, then of all the apostles. And last of all he was 

l 2 l J et. i. 16. 2 Acts iv. 33. 



PREPARATION FOR THE MINISTRY. 455 

seen of me also, as of one born out of due time." 1 In 
these passages we perceive an indication that men were 
expected to rely upon testimony as sufficient evidence of 
our Saviour's resurrection. And in a similar way do Christ 
and some of his apostles show that miracles and proph- 
ecy afford legitimate grounds of belief. In a word, Jeho- 
vah's messengers address the minds of men with such 
proofs and arguments as are suited to convince their 
reason. Now we presume it is well understood, that the 
most cunning and desperate foes of our holy religion are 
at the present time tasking all their energies to under- 
mine its rational and historical foundations, to destroy or 
fatally shake our confidence in the genuineness and inspi- 
ration of the Scriptures. Hence " pastors and teachers " 
should be able at all times to justify by sound reason 
their faith in the Word of God, and to show, at least by 
way of specimen, the fallacy of all arguments against the 
same. But this ability presupposes no inconsiderable 
amount of preparatory study. 

It may still further be remarked that in order to a full 
and faithful exhibition of the gospel by a Christian pastor, 
his preaching must frequently be ethical. It must distin- 
guish from every other spiritual exercise that trusting 
love which is the central and moving principle of the new 
life. It must not only show how this wholesome tendency 
and working of the soul bears it upward in " direct fervors 
of devotion to God," but also, at the same time outward, 
in exhilarating benevolence to mankind. It must explain 
the effect of supreme love to God upon one's estimate of 
self and personal advantage, upon his desire for the pres- 
ent and eternal good of other men, and upon the line of 
conduct which he will therefore pursue. It must teach 

1 1 Cor. xv. 5, seq. 



456 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

— for many are they who need this instruction — the 
way in which a Christian may lawfully use and refresh 
the faculties of his mind ; so that reason, memory, imagi- 
nation, conscience, and will, may all be trained to the 
highest perfection and made subservient in every act to 
the glory of God. It must apply the central principle of 
Christian life to the domestic, social, and civil relations 
of man ; declaring what are the aims and methods by 
which parents and children, teachers and scholars, friends 
and neighbors, rulers and people, are required by the law 
of God to serve one another. Never, since the advent of 
Christ, has there been more need than there is to-day of 
thorough, searching, spiritual instruction by the ministry, 
upon the " higher law," as competent to absolve one from 
the duty of obeying the "lower law," upon the eternal 
principles of honesty and humanity as binding the con- 
science in spite of political or commercial maxims, and 
upon direct religious effort, by prayer, or conversation, or 
more public labor, as a service pre-eminently acceptable to 
God. But no kind of preaching calls for a more thought- 
ful and deliberate preparation than this. It must decide 
the most difficult cases of conscience by unfolding a few 
generic ideas. And to effect this, these central ideas must 
be so clearly enunciated to the mind, and so persistently 
infused into the moral nature of the hearer, as to lead 
him to right decisions in all particular emergencies. 
Specific rules cannot always be given ; but the intellect 
may be so fully charged with fundamental truths, and the 
conscience so much enlightened and invigorated by their 
operation, as to render such rules altogether needless. It 
is well also to remember that ethical preaching is adapted 
to startle vile transgressors and lead them to repentance. 
Let it be faithfully addressed to men of this class, and, 



PREPARATION FOR THE MINISTRY. 457 

though appetite and lust may pour their turbid, seething 
floods, their black and stifling vapors, into every chamber 
of the soul, to darken the lights of moral instinct and 
conscience, yet, gleaming through the mist and gloom of 
those spirit-chambers, will be dimly seen to come forth, 
as it were, the fingers of a man's hand to write upon their 
walls ; and conscience, like another Daniel, will be ever 
ready to interpret the oracle of Jehovah. The blasphe- 
mous, the dishonest, the avaricious, the oppressive, the im- 
pure, will find themselves confronted and terrified by the 
words of the Most Holy, and will be led to utter the 
publican's cry : " God, be merciful to me, a sinner ! " 

According to the principle of classification which has 
been followed, there remain several other kinds of preach- 
ing ; yet they cannot, for lack of time, be noticed in this 
discourse. But we have proceeded far enough in the 
present direction to accomplish our purpose by making it 
evident that special study in preparation for the pastoral 
office is exceedingly desirable. To set forth before the 
minds of men Jehovah's character and law ; to speak of 
sin and death, of pardon through Christ, and eternal life, 
leading their thoughts by means of clear and fitting lan- 
guage up to the " height of this great argument ; " to 
depict the heavenward aspect of true piety, beaming with 
trust, and love, and hope, and devotion, and to inculcate 
with suitable emphasis the necessity of this uplooking 
and holy longing of the soul; to show also that vital 
Christianity is not merely like the noble pir^e, shooting 
its straight and tapering shaft above the surrounding 
forest, and pointing the eye to heaven and to God, but 
also like the verdant olive, sending out its branches on 
every side, covered with leaves and laden with fruit for 
the good of men ; to show that it strengthens every 



458 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

manly virtue, enforces every . natural duty and perfects 
every real grace in its possessor, making genuine philan- 
thropists, honest rulers, good citizens, faithful parents, and 
affectionate children ; and besides all this, to repel every 
assault of Satan upon the kingdom of light, whether it be 
made by the skilful injection of doubts as to the evidences 
of Christianity, or by the subtle infusion of error into its 
pure and living waters, or by the foul fascination of lying 
prophecy, and counterfeit spiritualism ; and then, for the 
love of Christ, with aggressive, zeal to carry over this 
mighty conflict into the enemy's land, besieging his for- 
tresses, hewing down his groves, grinding to powder his 
idols, and by the aid of our glorious Prince, who will 
" lead captivity captive," gaining a complete victory ; to 
do this, well and fully, is to do in part the work of a good 
minister of Jesus Christ ; and we hazard nothing by add- 
ing, that to do this with the aids of previous culture and 
theological study is far less difficult than to do it without 
them. Other things being equal, he will be most likely 
to accomplish this labor who has made himself acquainted 
with the original Scriptures, who has learned to appreciate 
those peculiarities of phraseology and illustration, and to 
detect those finer shadings of thought or emotion, which 
can never be perfectly reproduced in other tongues, and 
which for this very reason give immortal youth and fresh- 
ness to the words chosen by inspired men. Hence, until 
the end of time will devout scholars turn to the original 
word for refreshment; until the end of time will minis- 
ters of Christ delight to trace back the stream of truth to' 
its crystal fountain. Perhaps it should here be added 
that the fundamental principles of our belief, as a de- 
nomination, and especially certain questions which now 
agitate us, make it our particular duty to become familiar 



PREPARATION FOR THE MINISTRY. 459 

with the original Scriptures. It has been decided by some 
of our brethren that a modified version of the sacred 
Word is urgently required for the honor of God ; and we 
may be called ere long to give judgment upon the charac- 
ter of such a version. 

So, likewise, apart from all differences of native ability 
and true piety, he will be most likely to do the great 
work we have feebly described who has by means of 
theological study drawn beforehand the leading doctrines 
of Christianity from the Word of God, has compared 
them one with another, has subjected them to the scru- 
tiny of reason and conscience, has traced their history 
and working in the Christian Church, has marked the 
abuses and perversions to which they are liable, and has 
prepared himself in some measure to exhibit them with 
plainness and power to the consciences of men. Indeed, 
every course of study recognized in our theological semi- 
naries has direct relation to the pastor's work ; every 
thing not immediately serviceable in the discharge of his 
sacred duties is faithfully excluded ; and the student is 
reminded, at every step of his laborious progress, that a 
great warfare is before him, that he is but strengthening 
himself for a little time, in order thenceforth to wrestle 
more vigorously " against principalities, against powers, 
against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against 
spiritual wickedness in high places." : 

But the work of a pastor is not wholly comprised in 
preaching the Word. Other labors claim a portion of his 
time. He is a spiritual overseer of the church intrusted 
to his care. Not to insist upon the literal meaning of the 
term " bishop," and without undertaking any exposition 
of church polity, we may find in the statement of Paul, 
i Eph. vi. 12. 



460 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

that a bishop must be " one that ruleth well his own 
house " — with the reason : " For if a man know not how 
to rule his own house, how shall he take care of the 
church of God ? " 1 And also in his precept : " Let the 
elders that rule well be counted worthy of double hon- 
or;" 2 — ample proof that the pastoral office brings with 
it solemn duties of supervision and watch-care. Whoever 
enters this ministry becomes the spiritual guide and chief 
executive of a Christian church. Fidelity to Christ may 
now require him, in certain cases, to "exhort and rebuke 
with all authority." It may be his duty to admonish the 
careless, to reprove the froward, to restore the erring, and 
to see that wholesome discipline is maintained in the 
church. It will be his duty to visit the sick, sympathize 
with the bereaved, encourage the downcast, comfort the 
feeble-minded. His work will remain imperfect until 
every member of his flock is completely subject to the 
law of Christ. 3 And therefore if any root of bitterness 
spring up in the church, he first will endeavor to remove 
it. If any be overtaken in a fault, he first will seek to 
restore such an one in the spirit of meekness. If any 
have " slidden back by a perpetual backsliding," he first 
will plead with the delinquent and urge him to repent- 
ance. And he will be ready to adopt, as none but a 
pastor can adopt, the language of that apostle on whom 
daily came the care of all the churches : " Who is weak, 
and I am not weak ? Who is offended, and I burn not ? " 4 
This interest in the particular members of his flock, this 
endeavor to understand their spiritual history, this sym- 
pathy of feeling when tides of sorrow or of joy, of fear or 
of hope, sweep over them, this constant pressure of duty 

1 1 Tim. iii. 4, 5. 2 \ Tim. v. 17. 

3 See Col. i. 28. 4 2 Cor. xi. 29. 



PREPARATION FOR THE MINISTRY. 461 

urging him to seek the religious good of every one of his 
hearers by every means in his power, — all enters as one 
important element into the pastor's work, and must be 
taken into our estimate of the same. 

But why should it be thought necessary to put you in 
remembrance of these things ? What relation, my breth- 
ren, has the weight of care which presses upon you to 
the subject of theological education ? What argument 
can be drawn from your anxious thoughts and weary 
steps and private exhortations, in favor of studious prep- 
aration for the ministry ? Can the schools impart experi- 
ence or practical wisdom ? Can years of quiet study with 
teachers and books make one acquainted with human 
nature and prepare him to deal with living men, who 
may be united in Christian fellowship, and yet have prej- 
udices, passions, and " ways," each peculiar to himself ? 

Yes, in part ; for whoever has carefully examined his 
own nature, the devices, the aspirations, the workings of 
his own spirit, knows much of every other human being. 
" As in water face answereth to face, so the heart of man 
to man." And whoever has become familiar with man as 
he is described in the Word of God, knows the deepest 
principles of our nature, and is prepared to interpret hu- 
man conduct. It may, therefore/be safely affirmed that 
a course of theological study will ultimately assist the 
minister of Christ in discharging his pastoral duties, in 
speaking to the hearts of men as a spiritual counsellor, 
reprover, or comforter. But were it not so, we should 
still be called to consider the extent and urgency of these 
duties. We should still deem it important to show how 
much of the pastor's time and strength they consume, how 
little of these they leave to be employed in a thorough 
investigation of principles or a deliberate study of the 



462 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

Scriptures, and consequently how desirable must be a 
previous and protracted examination of the fundamental 
ideas and inspired Eecords of our faith. We should still 
be inclined to hold that dexterity in the application of 
truth should be postponed to the knowledge of truth 
itself ; that an acquaintance with men and society would 
be dearly purchased by sacrificing a thorough knowledge 
of the Word of life ; that a pastor engaged in his appro- 
priate work can far more easily supplement any defi- 
ciencies in practical skill than in comprehensive and 
accurate investigation. 

And here it should be added that every true pastor 
will feel a deep interest in the young and will strive to 
aid in their religious education. He will look upon them 
with peculiar hope, and, wherever it is possible, whether 
in the Sabbath-school or in the family circle, or by the 
wayside, he will cast into the fresh soil of their hearts 
the seed of the Word, expecting an early harvest. For 
in Christian lands God is pleased to call from their 
ranks most of those who are " ordained to eternal life." 
And whoever, knowing this law of Divine action, longs 
for the salvation of men, will not fail to labor for the 
youth, and direct them with earnest solicitude to the 
" Lamb of God, who taketh away the sin of the world." 
Guided by the light of a holy Providence, he will fre- 
quently adapt his preaching to their capacities and wants. 
None will be oftener in his mind, when he chooses from 
the Word of God things new and old for the benefit of 
his flock. And if that day ever comes when the young 
are forgotten in the preaching of the gospel, it will be a 
sad day for the Church. Nevertheless, it is no easy task 
for the pastor to suit his thoughts and speech by turns 
to those of every age, giving to each one a portion in due 



PREPARATION FOR THE MINISTRY. 463 

season, and yet losing his hold upon the attention of 
none. 

Having spoken at length upon the work of a pastor for 
his own people, we must briefly allude to his labors in a 
wider sphere. For such labors he may not wholly de- 
cline. It would be almost as reasonable to suppose his 
thoughts, as to suppose his efforts, confined within the 
limits of a single parish. Christianity enlarges the heart, 
and makes one a citizen of the world. It unites by true 
charity those whom oceans separate, and pronounces 
every man a neighbor to his fellow. It fires the soul 
for action, and converts far-seeing benevolence into far- 
reaching beneficence. The last words of its divine Au- 
thor before his return to glory, add wings to decision 
and impel the believer to labor for the conversion of all 
mankind. And if every Christian is expected to feel the 
quickening power of those words, much more the minis- 
ter of Christ, who has a leader's place among the friends 
of this holy enterprise ! He will deem himself called, if 
not to go as a missionary to the heathen, at least to co- 
operate in sustaining those who do thus go. And to 
make this co-operation effectual, he will find it necessary 
to act in concert with his brethren, whether at home or 
abroad. But concert of action implies unity of plan ; and 
unity of plan comes, if at all, from consultation ; and con- 
sultation presupposes public meetings, and boards, and 
committees ; and wise action in these must be preceded 
by careful examination and reflection. Now it is self- 
evident, that a heavy draft is thus made upon the pastor's 
time and strength. And when we bear in mind the fact 
that numerous organizations have been called into exist- 
ence for the purpose of hastening the diffusion of Chris- 
tian truth by special means, or in particular regions; 



464 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

when we think of the Foreign and Home Missionary 
Societies, of the Bible and Tract Societies, of the Educa- 
tion and Publication Societies, of State Conventions and 
yearly Associations, all of which depend in a great meas- 
ure upon the wisdom and energy of our pastors for their 
efficiency, then at length does this part of their work 
begin to appear in its real magnitude, and we assign it a 
distinct place in our estimate of that work. 

Perhaps we ought to say that it is more arduous in 
our own denomination than in any other. We have no 
earthly head. Our churches are all independent; our 
pastors are all bishops. We have cherished from time 
immemorial the right of private judgment, and therefore 
yield with reluctance our own opinion to that of others. 
Yet it is possible for us to have union and concentration. 
"The locusts have no king," says Agur, "yet go they 
forth all of them by bands." 1 " They are Jehovah's 
army ; they run like mighty men, they climb the wall 
like men of war ; they march each one on his way ; 
and they do not break their ranks." 2 An inward prin- 
ciple, an impulse or instinct from the God of nature, 
directs their course and gives unity to their action. 

And so likewise may our churches, as co-ordinate, 
fraternal bands, controlled by a yet holier impulse, 
"keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace," 3 
and labor together for one great object. So likewise 
may their pastors, taught by the same Word, and im- 
pelled by the same devout affection, see eye to eye, and 
mind the same things. 

And such a union, springing from an inward source, 
has incalculable power. It is not a placid stream gliding 

1 Prov. xxx. 27. 2 See Joel ii. 7, 11. 

3 Eph. iv. 3. 



PREPARATION FOR THE MINISTRY. 465 

on in a straight line between artificial banks, but a 
river flowing in its natural bed, ever changing in form 
and motion ; now sweeping forward in quiet . majesty 
across the plain, and anon rushing with apparent fury 
down the rapids; now split asunder by the bold head 
of some rocky island, and then once more uniting its 
friendly waters below ; a natural river, moving on 
through many a narrow pass, over many a sturdy ob- 
stacle, with many a heavy bend, yet ever on in the 
same general direction, giving joy and receiving increase, 
until at length its floods enter that ultimate ocean where 
all living waters will unite. But if we are to move in 
concert as a denomination, and thus achieve any holy 
enterprise, our union must be the result of pervading 
harmony in judgment and spirit; it must spring from 
a common purpose, and give free scope to inquiry, con- 
sultation, discussion ; it must be more vital than formal, 
more spiritual than mechanical, more like the river than 
the aqueduct. And hence it is that nothing short of the 
best intelligence and the most fraternal spirit can bind 
us together for any long period in a common work. It 
is above all necessary that every pastor have this intelli- 
gence, and cultivate this spirit ; that he be able to sit in 
council with the great body of his brethren, and appre- 
ciate the reasons which control or justify their action. 
It is therefore self-evident that much of his time and 
strength should be given to the general organizations, 
meetings, and enterprises of the denomination, rendering 
it still more difficult for him to remedy any defect in his 
previous theological studies. 

Perhaps, however, it may be thought that some of 
these organizations might be dissolved and their work 

performed by simpler agencies. But can it be supposed 

30 



466 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

that any change of this kind would materially diminish 
the labor of pastors ? Unless the work itself were in 
certain cases relinquished, and our place in evangelizing 
the world vacated, there would, we imagine, be little 
relief to the ministry. The small residuum of mental 
power which pastors now have, after performing their 
parish and denominational labors, for the prosecution 
of theological studies, cannot be greatly increased with- 
out serious damage to their usefulness. A good founda- 
tion must be laid in these studies before entering the 
ministry, or they will rarely secure proper attention. 
Men of extraordinary force and devotion may surmount 
every obstacle and become mighty in the Scriptures, 
but others will fail to achieve this Herculean task, fail 
to become what they might have been by the aid of a 
thorough course of study in preparation for their work. 

Such, then, is the pastor's work, at home and abroad, 
for his own people, and for the cause at large. We have 
been careful not to exaggerate. We have mentioned no 
item of toil or solicitude which does not legitimately 
appertain to his office. We have forborne to specify 
councils and ordinations, reform societies and school 
committees, either because they occupy little time or 
because they may be set aside as extra-ministerial. 

We have not dwelt upon the duties of friendship, and 
the higher claims of domestic life ; for none, it is pre- 
sumed, will forget the amount of labor and care which 
must be consecrated to these. But we have said enough 
to convince every thoughtful man that the work of a 
Christian pastor is one of surpassing magnitude and 
sacredness ; that it calls for the deepest piety, the ripest 
wisdom, and the most abundant knowledge in him who 
would perform it well ; and that a course of theological 



PREPARATION FOR THE MINISTRY. 467 

study is exceedingly desirable, is an advantage above all 
price, to those who are set apart to this work. 

But we are sometimes told that, however reasonable 
this may seem, the providence of God teaches a different 
lesson. Not those of superior intelligence and theologi- 
cal culture, it is said, have been honored most highly in 
preaching the Word, but those who were called directly 
from secular business into the service, and who possessed 
an amount of knowledge scarcely greater than their 
hearers. It may not therefore be amiss to glance rapidly 
over the pages of history, and test the correctness of this 
representation. 

As to the apostles, it has been well said that they 
were all, with one exception, taught for the space of three 
years by him who spake as never man spake. After that, 
having received the gift of the Spirit, they were permitted 
to enter fully upon their work. 

As to Paul, he had been educated at the feet of Gama- 
liel, who was deeply versed in the Jewish Scriptures, and 
was taught the gospel by direct revelation. He was able 
to " speak wisdom among the perfect," * and to adapt his 
preaching with singular skill to those addressed. Enlight- 
ened by the Spirit of God, and accustomed to mental 
exertion, he was qualified to make known the truth to 
Greek as well as Jew, to declare the way of life in the 
wisest manner, both at Antioch and Philippi, at Athens 
and Corinth, at Ephesus and Eome. 

As to the companions of the apostles, Barnabas, was a 
Levite, and therefore it may be presumed familiar from 
childhood with the law of his fathers. And from apos- 
tolic lips he received the name by which he is now called, 
to commemorate a peculiar excellence of his preaching. 

1 1 Cor. ii. 6, seg. 



468 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

Luke had been educated a physician, and was for many 
years associated with Paul. His writings afford striking 
indications of a cultivated mind as well as of a Christian 
heart. Apollos was a native of Alexandria, a city distin- 
guished for its schools and learning. He was an " elo- 
quent man, and mighty in the Scriptures." He was 
instructed in the truth by John the Baptist, or some 
of his followers. Then Aquila and Priscilla expounded 
unto him the way of God more perfectly ; and after this, 
proceeding to Corinth, " he helped them much who had 
believed through grace ; for he mightily convinced the 
Jews, publicly, showing by the Scriptures, that Jesus was 
the Christ." Timothy had known the Holy Scriptures 
from a child, had embraced the Christian faith in early 
manhood, had won a good report of his brethren by years 
of fidelity ; he then continued for a long time with Paul, 
and was qualified by listening to his instruction, and by 
receiving special gifts, for the work of an evangelist. We 
believe, therefore, that all these were men of great intel- 
ligence, and fitted by much preparatory study for their 
holy office. Nor have we any reason to suppose that 
Titus, or Mark, or James the Just, differed in this par- 
ticular from the foregoing. And it should be distinctly 
noted that all these men were acquainted with the Greek 
language from childhood. For the most part they heard 
and proclaimed the gospel, each one in his own tongue 
wherein he was born. Hence they were spared a portion 
of that labor which is needed to brin^ our minds into 
immediate contact with the inspired Word. It is also 
probable that many of them were equally at home in the 
Hebrew, and could read with facility the Law and the 
Prophets and the Psalms in the language of ancient 
Israel. 



PREPARATION FOR THE MINISTRY. 469 

Passing now to the next generation, what account shall 
be given of Poly carp and Irenaeus ? History places them 
first in wisdom, devotion, constancy, moral power, and 
evident usefulness among the bishops of their time. And 
it likewise declares that, after much preparation, they 
were entrusted with the sacred office. 

And what shall be said of Clement and Origen, the 
lights of Egypt, half a century later ? Who is ready to 
call in question the sanctified diligence of the former, 
described by one of his own day as " a Sicilian bee, pluck- 
ing the flowers of the prophetic and apostolic field, and 
knowing how to fill the minds of his hearers with true 
knowledge " ? Or who will assert that the latter, with 
all his errors in theological speculation, did hot " approve 
himself a servant of God, in tumults, in labors, in watch- 
ings, in fastings ; by pureness, by knowledge, by long 
suffering, by love unfeigned " ? 1 

And may not similar terms be applied to Tertullian 
and Cyprian of North Africa ? If they shared the mis- 
takes or helped the evil tendencies of church Christianity 
in their age, did they not, on the other hand, lead in the 
defence of our holy religion ? Did they not almost shout 
the truth with burning zeal into pagan ears, and utter 
words of heavenly sweetness to such as "were tortured, 
not accepting deliverance " ? Do not some of their argu- 
ments and appeals yet stir our hearts like the sound of a 
trumpet, and work on as a living power in the kingdom 
of God ? But these men, it is well known, were scholars 
in their day. 

Coming down a few generations, we find a cluster of 
"pastors and teachers," whose names will never perish. 
Without controversy, they were in the best sense cham- 

1 2 Cor. vi. 4, 5. 



470 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

pions for the truth. Yet all of them entered the ministry 
after a long course of study, and in the ripeness of man- 
hood; Gregory of Nazianzen at the age of thirty-two, 
Basil the Great at the age of thirty-four, Chrysostom and 
Augustine at the age of thirty-nine, and Gregory of Nyssa, 
at the age of forty. In this remarkable group of pastors, 
we perceive such a union of genuine piety and good learn- 
ing, of practical wisdom and sound theology, of steadfast 
integrity and prevailing eloquence, as cannot be discovered 
elsewhere in the early Church. 

Passing by the scattered lights which shone here and 
there amid the darkness of the next eight centuries, we 
come to John Wicklijfe, the morning star of the Eefor- 
mation. He was a man of letters, distinguished alike 
for his knowledge of philosophy, of theology, and of 
canon law. Many were the honors which he received 
at Oxford, and great was the success which attended his 
theological lectures in that University, yet did they not 
disqualify him for the duties of a pastor at Lutterworth. 
He visited the members of his flock as a spiritual guide, 
and earnestly preached to them in their own language 
the way of life. His words were "in demonstration 
of the Spirit and of power;" large numbers were con- 
verted to Christ ; and many were ere long sent forth as 
itinerant preachers of the cross. Thus Wickliffe, under- 
standing the exigencies of his time, anticipated the plan 
of Wesley, and endeavored to spread rapidly through 
England a knowledge of the truth. 

With like sagacity and zeal for God, he prepared a 
translation of the Bible, that this blessed volume might 
be no longer a sealed book to his countrymen. 

And presently, turning our eyes from England to Bo- 
hemia, we behold John Huss, professor of theology in 



PREPARATION FOR THE MINISTRY. 471 

the University of Prague, lifting up the banner of re- 
form, preaching the gospel in its power at Bethlehem 
Chapel, maintaining his ground against all opposition, 
and rejoicing in the swift and victorious spread of truth, 
until the Council of Constance bound him to the stake 
and clad his native land in mourning. A hundred years 
of terrible conflict and relentless persecution did not 
suffice to quench the light kindled in Bohemia by this 
great preacher. 

And what shall we say of other " reformers before the 
Reformation " ? Were they not bold, self-denying, and 
godly men ? And had they not, with scarcely an excep- 
tion, devoted their youth and early manhood to literary 
and theological pursuits ? Let the records of history be 
heard in reply. 

When again the set time to favor Zion had come, God 
sent his Spirit into the schools and chose for himself a 
" forlorn hope " of young men, whose names cannot even 
now be pronounced without making both the ears of 
Rome to tingle. They were Luther, the representative 
German, with his manifold sympathies and stalwart faith 
and obstinate will ; Melancthon, " the preceptor of Ger- 
many," with his gentle, appreciative, loving spirit ; 
Zwingle, the clear-sighted and heroic reformer of Swit- 
zerland ; Calvin, the interpreter and theologian, said to 
have been " at twenty-two the best scholar in Europe ; " 
Knox, the preacher of robust intellect and dauntless 
courage, over whose grave the regent of Scotland pro- 
nounced these words : " There lies one who never feared 
the face of man ; " and many others of kindred fidelity, 
either in England or upon the Continent, who brought 
the word of God into closer contact with the minds of 
men than it had been for ages, and prepared the way for 



472 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

larger freedom and purer doctrine than they themselves 
were able to receive. 

" And what shall I more say ? for the time would fail 
me to tell of " Pascal and of Fenelon, of Baxter and of. 
Doddridge, of Eoger Williams and of Clarke, of Comer 
and of Callender, of Whitefield and of Wesley, of Ed- 
wards and of Payson, of Judson and of Boardman, of vast 
numbers, indeed, among the living as well as the dead, 
who have shown themselves approved unto God, work- 
men that needed not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the 
word of truth. It is evident from such a survey that no 
preachers have been more signally useful than those who 
have prepared themselves by much study for their work. 
It is evident that, in making use of human agency for 
the spiritual good of men, God has honored the general 
laws of action and influence established by himself. 
Knowledge and utterance have been prerequisite to suc- 
cess in teaching. Those who have thoroughly studied 
the Word of God and the history of his people ; who have 
exercised their mental faculties and learned how to lead 
other minds by a straight line into the very centre and 
heart of religious truth ; who have endured the rigors 
of an intellectual and moral probation before taking the 
full responsibility of " stewards of the mysteries of 
God ; " those, in a word, who, at the Master's call, have 
deliberately prepared themselves in young manhood for 
the holy office of the Christian ministry, and have then 
gone forth to spend the best of their days in that ser- 
vice, — have labored with a success in proportion to their 
fitness to do the work of their calling, and have achieved 
results more desirable and permanent than have others 
of equal native ability and equal devotion to the 
cause. 



PREPARATION FOR THE MINISTRY. 473 

But granting all this to be true ; admitting the fact 
that the voice of history as well as the nature of his work 
demonstrates the great value of preparatory study to the 
pastor ; we are then reminded that very few young men 
in our churches are looking forward to the Christian min- 
istry and preparing for the same by appropriate study. 
It is, therefore, we are told, vain to expect a supply, or 
even any considerable part of a supply of pastors from 
their ranks. It is very true, and we utter the words with 
deep sorrow, that the whole number of pious young men 
in our colleges and theological seminaries is small. It is 
also true that only a moderate fraction of this small 
number can be said to have the ministry in view. But 
is there not a cause ? And is there not a remedy ? A 
cause, we mean, to be found in ourselves as a ministry 
and people, and a remedy to proceed from a change of 
our opinions and conduct ? 

Pastors are given to the churches in answer to prayer. 
The language of Christ will at once suggest itself to your 
minds : " The harvest truly is plenteous, but the laborers 
are few. Pray ye, therefore, the Lord of the harvest, that 
He will send forth laborers into His harvest." l But to 
pray earnestly, one must believe it consistent with Divine 
wisdom to grant the desired answer. Hence the most 
importunate pleadings with God owe their fervor and 
power to some portion of His revealed will. Xo Christian 
can ask with filial confidence for that which he is con- 
vinced it is not in the purpose of God to bestow. No 
Christian can entreat the Great Shepherd and Bishop of 
souls to put into the hearts of young men a desire to 
serve him in publishing the gospel, and a willingness to 
make whatever preparation may be needful for the best 

1 Matt. ix. 37, 38. 



474 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

performance of that service, while he imagines that Christ 
deems it wisest, as a general rule, to transfer men at once 
from secular callings to the pastoral office. No Christian 
can pray in faith that indigent young men may be chosen 
by the Great Head of the Church, and qualified to teach 
and to preach, if he believes that God prefers an unedu- 
cated to an educated ministry, or if he is unwilling to 
encourage pious students by sympathy, and, when requi- 
site, by substantial aid in their course. He could as well 
pray for the conversion of the heathen, while convinced 
that God did not desire their conversion, or while resolved 
not to co-operate in sending them the gospel. When, 
therefore, we are told that very few young men in our 
churches are looking forward to the Christian ministry, 
can we not point to the cause ? Has not the Master said, 
" Be it unto thee according to thy faith " ? Have we not 
failed to receive because we have neglected to ask ? Have 
we not in some degree misunderstood the Word and Prov- 
idence of God ? Have we not, some of us, rashly assumed 
that Christ never calls men to prepare for his service as 
well as to do it ? Have we not forborne to covet the best 
gifts, or to make such efforts as were necessary to obtain 
them ? And have we not thereby limited the Holy One, 
and put in jeopardy the progress of the truth, so far as 
our agency is concerned in that progress ? 

These questions may doubtless be answered in the af- 
firmative ; and this answer accounts for the fewness of 
young men in Baptist churches who are preparing for the 
ministry. But in finding the cause of this evil we have 
found its remedy. If we ash, my brethren, for a ministry 
ample in numbers, strong in faith, apt to teach, and quali- 
fied by previous study to search the Scriptures and de- 
monstrate their exact meaning, to cope with error and 



PREPARATION FOR THE MINISTRY. 475 

pluck it up by the roots, we shall ere long have such a 
ministry. If we long for the light and the day, and resolve 
to do our part in elucidating the Word of God and estab- 
lishing among men just views of his will; if we enlarge 
our hearts to plead for great things, and stretch forth our 
hands to labor for their attainment ; if we entreat " the 
Lord of the harvest to send forth laborers into his har- 
vest," and at the same time seek out and help forward 
those whom the Master is ready to send ; then shall we 
have the " oil of joy for mourning, and the garment of 
praise for the spirit of heaviness ; " then will the number 
of our pastors be augmented by as large accessions from 
the ranks of young men educated for their work, as from 
the ranks of older men who must forego the benefit of 
preparatory study ; and our churches, strong in the varied 
gifts and united aims of their ministry, will be able to 
say, if there be for them a promised land, " Let us go up 
at once, and possess it." (Num. xiii. 30.) 

Note. — The foregoing Discourse was delivered at North Adams, 
Mass., October 29, 1856. 



THE VALUE OF SYSTEMATIC THEOLOGY 
TO PASTOES. 

IT may be assumed that nearly all who are looking 
forward to the work of preaching the gospel in a 
Christian land expect to do this in the pastoral office. 
And a large share of those who are called to enter the 
ministry will spend their days in such a land. They 
ought, therefore, to be qualified for the pastoral office ; 
and to be qualified for this office, they ought to be not 
only zealous and of ready speech, but also sound in the 
faith, well-instructed, and able rightly to divide the word 
of truth. As guides and teachers they should be en- 
riched with knowledge, scribes ready in the law, pre- 
pared to instruct the people of God, to feed the flock 
of Christ with heavenly food. The treasures of sacred 
learning should be at their command ; and whatever 
study may be necessary to secure this should be cheer- 
fully undertaken. In the best sense of the expression, 
pastors should be learned as well as devout. 

This position is still controverted by some of our 
brethren, and hence both duty and inclination lead me 
to offer a plea at the present time in favor of ministerial 
education. I cannot, however, discuss the topic in all 
its breadth, but must restrict myself to a part of the 
field ; and it is natural for me to choose a part with 



VALUE OF THEOLOGY TO PASTORS. 477 

which my daily thoughts are occupied. Yet this is not 
the chief reason which has led to the topic soon to be 
stated. For besides the objections which are still urged 
by certain persons to ministerial education in general, 
weighty considerations are sometimes said to lie against 
the study of doctrinal theology in particular. This part 
of a regular course is supposed, by not a few ministers 
and laymen, to turn away the mind from the oracles 
of God, to beget a philosophizing spirit, to form a cau- 
tious and negative habit of thinking, to quench the flame 
of Christian zeal, and to render the style dry, cold, and 
tame. It has been thought to foster speculation and 
open the door to heresy, tempting some to leave the solid 
ground and sail through the upper air, — a grief to wise 
men and the admiration of fools. I have therefore 
deemed it suitable to lay before you a few thoughts on 
the study of doctrinal theology in preparing for the pas- 
toral office. These thoughts will afford, if not a formal, 
yet I trust a substantial, answer to the charges just 
mentioned. 

The course of study which I propose to justify may 
be described as a patient and faithful endeavor to ascer- 
tain the principal doctrines of Christianity, and their 
relations in Scripture and reason to one another. The 
Word of God, like the natural world, gives one aspect of a 
truth here and another there, one relation of it in this 
passage and another in that, now picturing it to the eye 
in symbol, and then illustrating it in history ; and the 
course of study to which I call your attention seeks, in 
the first place, to obtain a clear view of every separate 
aspect and relation of this truth ; and in the second, to 
unite the different phases of it into one full-orbed doc- 
trine ; and lastly, to find the place of this doctrine in the 



478 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND KELIGION. 

great system of Christian truth, that all parts of the 
same may stand together before the mind in visible har- 
mony, revealing the matchless wisdom of God. Such 
a course of study, even though the end which it con- 
templates be not fully reached, will do much to prepare 
him who takes it with a reverent spirit for the work 
of a Christian pastor. This statement may be vindicated 
by showing, — 

That a knowledge of doctrinal theology is exceedingly 
desirable for pastors, — a proposition which may be jus- 
tified by the following considerations : — 

It meets a want of their rational nature, a deep-seated 
and universal desire, given with the reason itself and 
sanctioned by the creative act. When Consentius wrote 
to Augustine, laying down the position that in matters 
of religion " reason should not so much be consulted as 
rather the authority of holy men be followed," the Bishop 
of Hippo replied : " Correct your position, not indeed by 
saying that you will repudiate faith, but that you will 
seek to see in the light of reason those truths which you 
now hold by the grasp of faith. Far be it from God to 
hate in us that by which he has made us to excel other 
creatures. Far be it from us to believe for the sake of 
not accepting or seeking a reason for the truth ; since 
we could not even believe did we not possess rational 
souls." And while he asserts that " faith has, as it were, 
eyes of its own, by which in a certain way it sees that 
to be true which it does not yet see," he distinctly affirms 
that " whoever now understands by true reason what he 
once merely believed, is surely in advance of him who 
is yet desiring to understand what he believes, and still 
more of him who is ignorant of the true office of faith, 
and does not even long to comprehend those things 



VALUE OF THEOLOGY TO PASTORS. 479 

which may be known." While he contends that faith 
ought many times to precede reason, he also shows that 
there must be a rational ground in every instance for 
this order. " If it is reasonable," he argues, " that as 
to certain great truths which we cannot yet compass 
faith should anticipate reason, without doubt so much 
of reason as persuades us of this does itself go before 
faith." 

In other words, man has a rational nature, made for 
the apprehension of truth as evidently as the lungs were 
made for the reception of air ; and the possession of this 
nature by the proper act of God is warrant enough for 
its use and culture. Eeason is not a disease of the soul 
brought on by apostasy. It was in man from the first 
and took rank with his noblest faculties. Its health is 
no less essential to the proper life of the soul than health 
of the lungs is to the life of the body. But the aliment 
of sound reason is truth ; and the higher its character, 
the purer its moral beauty, the more august its relations 
and offices, the better is it fitted to fill up the growing 
capacities of reason with light and power. For the 
Christian there is but one way to answer the cry of his 
rational nature, but one way to appease the hunger of 
his soul for knowledge. By the study of divine things, 
by a diligent inquiry after the vital truths of our holy 
religion, by a prayerful endeavor to obtain a distinct 
view of the Sun of righteousness, with all the circling 
orbs of spiritual light which go to make up the system 
of Christian truth, and to ray out before an intelligent 
universe the glory of God, may he satisfy the just claims 
of a God-given reason without injury to faith ; but in no 
other way. 

Let it also be remembered that, in the Christian, 



480 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

knowledge- and faith are homogeneous and inseparable. 
It is no more possible for them to exist apart from each 
other in the present life than it is for a renewed soul 
to have faith without love, or love without faith. They 
pass into each other like the colors of the rainbow, and 
the presence of one proves the existence of the other. 
The point where faith ends and knowledge begins can 
never be fixed ; for all warranted belief is grounded in 
moral reason or intuition, while the clearest knowledge 
resting upon moral evidence is but faith strengthened 
into assurance. Hence, to believe God, and to know 
God, are almost equivalent expressions in the Bible. 

And let it further be remembered, for it is an axiom, 
that related truths must belong to a system ; they can- 
not stand apart in solitary grandeur, like the pillars of 
a ruined city; nor can they disagree and wage relent- 
less war with each other; but by their very nature 
they must stand together, and each be stronger for the 
union. It is therefore impossible to comprehend any 
one of them without seeing its connection with the rest, 
and noting the points which unite it with other mem- 
bers of the system. The relations of doctrine must be 
studied in order to know the strength of the Christian 
edifice, or even the firmness of a single pillar in this 
spiritual temple. And so it comes to pass that an axiom 
of reason adds its voice to the claim and hunger of our 
rational nature in favor of doctrinal study. 

Nor is it easy to resist their united influence. Indeed, 
we are permitted to acknowledge, with thanks to the 
Author of all good, that some who scout systematic 
theology in word honor it in action. A sound mind 
compels them to sanction in substance what a miscon- 
ception leads them to condemn in name. They are borne 



VALUE OF THEOLOGY TO PASTORS. 481 

on by the deep undercurrent of their rational nature to 
seek that very knowledge which they sincerely profess to 
shun. Hence, none better than they maintain the " form 
of sound words," or more distinctly than they see the 
sacred truth, which fills the form, and flashes through it 
and from it in beams of light. But whether all who 
decry a knowledge of the doctrines have secured, though 
unwittingly, any appreciable amount of this treasure, is 
a question which I forbear to press. 

It appears from what has been said that a knowledge 
of doctrinal theology is desirable for pastors, because it 
meets a great want of their rational nature. 

But this is not all. Let us make a step in advance and 
say that it meets a want of their moral nature. The 
Christian religion exalts the idea of duty. Tt proposes 
divine rectitude as the proper standard of moral excel- 
lence. It aims to purify the conscience and render its 
action perfect. One of its ablest teachers declared, 
"Herein do I exercise myself, to have always a con- 
science void of offence toward God and men." But the 
doctrines of this religion are immutable truth. Heaven 
and earth may pass away, but they will remain the same. 
To modify them is a fearful sin, defiling the conscience 
and provoking the wrath of God. It is therefore self- 
evident that no teacher of these doctrines can safely 
neglect to seek the best knowledge of them within his 
reach. This knowledge should be so deep and clear 
and completely absorbed into his spiritual being as to 
mould his language unconsciously, and secure his boldest 
and freest utterances from extravagance. The "winged 
words " which rush from his tongue, glowing with emo- 
tion and charged with electric power, should still be 

under law to truth. His perception of the contrast be- 

31 



482 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

tween the glowing disk of this orb and the surrounding 
penumbra whence heresies take their rise, should be so 
distinct that no outbreak of emotion will carry him be- 
yond the certain light of the former into the treacherous 
obscurity of the latter. His views of the cardinal doc- 
trines should be settled. And if nearly every doctrine 
of the Christian religion is set forth in the Bible frag- 
mentarily, one side of it here and another there, so that, 
in order to get as full a view of it as possible, Scripture 
must be compared with Scripture, prophecy with history, 
the shadows of an earlier economy with the substance of 
a later, then is a knowledge of doctrine, gained by a sur- 
vey of the whole record and by a comparison of different 
enunciations of the same essential truth, very necessary 
to satisfy the conscience. And further, if the truths of 
Christianity are related to one another, and form a con- 
sistent whole ; if, for example, the Biblical doctrine of 
regeneration presupposes that of human depravity and 
that of sovereign grace or election, and, less obviously 
though not less really every other truth of the system, so 
that a misrepresentation of any one doctrine carries with 
it a perversion of all the rest, — then assuredly must the 
knowledge for which we plead be necessary to preserve 
the moral nature from outrage and defilement. 

Let the preaching of a pastor be fairly considered, — 
how often he comes before his charge to expound the 
meaning of Scripture ; how often he makes a single clause 
the theme of a discourse ; how often he must decide be- 
tween a figurative and a literal sense of the words ; how 
often their true meaning is fixed by the doctrine of other 
passages or the analogy of faith ; how great the need of 
something more than earnest exhortation or random 
guesses at truth ; how imperative the call for bold and 



VALUE OF THEOLOGY TO PASTORS. 483 

positive exhibitions of doctrine, duty, or motive, and how 
brief the time allotted to weekly preparation for the Sab- 
bath, — and it will appear that one who has not by care- 
ful study ascertained at least the cardinal principles of 
revealed truth, and settled in his mind the outlines of a 
theological system, is led by the exigencies of his work 
into the jaws of temptation. He is in a strait betwixt 
two ; desiring to heed the monition of conscience and 
utter Christian truth without any mixture of error, and 
also desiring to treat every passage which he takes in 
hand boldly, vigorously, and impressively. Is it not 
more than probable that sometimes the whisper of con- 
science will be unheeded, and the pressure of circum- 
stances, with a longing' for effect, lead the hapless teacher 
to " be rash with his mouth " ? And should his bold 
handling of the Word prove to be apparently useful, is he 
not in danger of sinning yet more against the majesty of 
truth, if not of being caught in the meshes of the subtlest 
falsehood of Eoman ethics, that " the end sanctifies the 
means " ? I speak only, as you will observe, of a danger 
or temptation from which we should strive to be saved ; 
whether any persons could be mentioned who, after years 
of labor in the ministry, have no settled views of doc- 
trine, but are all afloat and seem to be carried hither and 
thither by the instinct or impulse of the moment, is a 
matter of less consequence. The peril to which I have 
referred is manifest and great ; it threatens the purity 
and power of conscience, and the duty of guarding against 
it is obvious. It follows that a knowledge of doctrinal 
theology meets a want of the pastor's moral nature. 

Nor is this all. Let us take another step, and say that 
it is equally essential to his spiritual good. His growth 
in grace will be promoted by it. While some degree of 



484 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

Christian experience goes before a true knowledge of re- 
ligious doctrines, and no man is able without a new heart 
to understand the nature of piety, or to obtain a right 
conception of theological science, it is also true, in the 
words of another, that " the science of theology, when 
constructed in a Christian spirit, has a practical and 
edifying character." Nay, the fact that true piety is the 
chief qualification for the study of theology is itself 
an evidence that the knowledge to be gained by such 
study is favorable to genuine piety. They are correlates, 
and their adaptation to each other shows that they ought 
to be united. Wherefore all this spiritual light, and this 
spiritual eye to receive it, if the light be not meant for 
the renewed soul, and will not quicken its growth in 
grace ? Whence the extraordinary faith and love and 
zeal which kindle the pages and burn in the sentences of 
John and Paul, of Augustine and Anselm, of Bunyan and 
Edwards, not to mention the names of hundreds more, if 
their piety was not nourished by their profound knowl- 
edge of the doctrines ? It may not be extravagant to say 
that they as far outstripped other ministers of the Word 
in Christian zeal and devotion as they did in theological 
knowledge. They did not remain through life babes in 
Christ, having need of milk, but they became in due time 
mature in knowledge and experience, capable of meat, 
and having their spiritual senses trained by use to discern 
both good and evil. 

But I need not detain you with illustrations. The 
Protestant world repudiates the maxim that " ignorance 
is the mother of devotion." It maintains that Christian 
truth is good and wholesome, adapted to nourish every 
spiritual grace, a savor of life unto life to all that believe. 
It holds that the people of God are sanctified by living in 



VALUE OF THEOLOGY TO PASTORS. 485 

the atmosphere of truth, and inhaling it at every breath. 
It asserts that the wisdom of God, in a mystery, has been 
revealed for the edification and comfort of his chosen. It 
declares that light is sown for the righteous, and grate- 
fully appropriates the words of Paul: "For God who 
commanded the light to shine out of darkness hath 
shined in our hearts unto the light of the knowledge of 
the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ." 

It is therefore too late for any one to call in question 
the fitness of religious truth to support and increase 
spiritual life. The only questions which can be deemed 
still open are these : When and how should this truth be 
brought before the mind ? How long should the believer 
wait before he ventures to explore the deep things of 
religion ? And by what method of study will he be most 
likely to obtain the truth in its fulness and purity ? 

I beg leave to offer a few words in reply to these 
questions. 

In answer to the former, When should this truth be 
brought before the mind ? it will be sufficient to remark 
that no man is qualified in character for the office of a 
bishop who is a novice, immature, easily shaken, incapa- 
ble of looking into and receiving some things hard to be 
understood, which the unlearned and unstable wrest, as 
they do also the other Scriptures, to their own destruc- 
tion. The Epistle to the Hebrews speaks of certain per- 
sons who had been believers long enough to be teachers, 
but who still needed to be taught the first principles of 
Christian doctrine, to be fed with milk and not with 
meat. The implication is plain : one who is not suffi- 
ciently mature in knowledge and experience to profit by 
the deeper truths of our holy religion is not mature 
enough to become at once a pastor and teacher. 



486 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

In reply to the latter, How should this truth be brought 
before the mind ? a word may be spoken in favor of Chris- 
tian theology. Whatever spiritual benefit may flow to 
the soul from a knowledge of single phases or points of 
doctrine may certainly be augmented by a larger view, 
embracing many related truths and noting their moral 
harmony. Far be it from me to depreciate any branch of 
Christian knowledge, as that of Biblical interpretation or 
of church history ; but I must distinctly affirm that a 
knowledge of the principal doctrines of Christianity, in 
their plainest relations to one another, is a further and 
important source of spiritual good, making the current of 
religious life broader and deeper. It was after Paul had 
proved the universal sinfulness of mankind, as the chil- 
dren of Adam, and the consequent impossibility of their 
salvation by obedience to the law ; had set forth the vica- 
rious and propitiatory death of Christ as an exhibition 
of God's righteousness and the only sufficient reason for 
justifying believers ; had shown that already before the 
advent of Christ men had been saved on the same prin- 
ciple and in view of the same atonement as since ; had 
dwelt on the sovereign purpose of God in choosing from 
a guilty race some to be trophies of his mercy and in 
leaving the rest to suffer the just penalty of their sins ; 
had contemplated the inseparable union established by 
the Spirit of God between the believer and his glorious 
Head ; and had spoken at length of Jewish unbelief as 
providentially overruled to the saving of many Gentiles, 
with a glance forward to the day when Jews and Greeks 
shall blend their voices in homage to Jesus, — it was after 
this train of luminous thought, this wide survey of essen- 
tial doctrines and allied facts, that his emotions of admira- 
tion and love broke out in the oft repeated words : " the 



VALUE OF THEOLOGY TO PASTORS. 487 

depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of 
God ! how unsearchable his judgments, and his ways past 
finding out ! . . . For of Him, and through Him, and to 
Him are all things : to whom be glory forever. Amen." 
And the religious sensibilities of this apostle were not 
peculiar. The laws of his spiritual life were the same 
which hold in the case of every true Christian; and a 
similar survey of the far-reaching yet connected doctrines 
of religion will awaken in other hearts the same high and 
holy emotions which he felt. 

I must, however, leave this thought, and pass on to say 
that Christian pastors need to be well grounded in the- 
ology for the good of their jpeople, as well as for their own 
good. For whether we look at their avowed purpose or 
at the will of Christ, no one of them liveth to himself. 
Hence the knowledge in question has to them an even 
greater official than personal value. It goes to qualify 
them for their ministry and to make them good " stewards 
of the mysteries of God." 

In proof of this I may remind you of the general fact 
that a man's power to benefit others depends greatly upon 
what he is himself. As a rule, he will stand, morally and 
religiously, in the community where he labors, for what 
he is worth. Intelligence, uprightness, and piety will 
make themselves felt in a thousand ways, and by a sort 
of unconscious influence do their proper work in society. 
Whatever, therefore, improves the man and Christian, im- 
proves the pastor and teacher; and if a knowledge of 
theology satisfies real wants of his rational, moral, and 
religious nature, enlarging, building up, completing his 
Christian manhood, it must indirectly add to his spiritual 
power and accrue to the benefit of his flock. 

But it does this also directly. Over and above its 



488 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

influence upon the preacher's character, it has a bearing 
upon the substance and form of his message. It gives 
clearness, precision, depth, and soundness. It enables 
him to lay hold of principles and set them forth with 
effect. It prepares him to shun the by-paths of error 
and to withstand the assaults of unbelief. It gives con- 
sistency to his teaching, and diminishes the work of 
preparation for the pulpit. But to show its value more 
clearly, I will speak of the twofold purpose of the min- 
istry ; namely, the conversion of sinners, and the edifica- 
tion of believers. 

A knowledge of theology may be of great service to 
a pastor in his efforts to save the ungodly. I do not 
pronounce it indispensable, or place it on a level with 
fervent piety, or say it is of any use alone ; but I simply 
affirm that it may be of great service to a pastor in this 
part of his work. An ignorant Christian may point a 
sinner to the Lamb of God, and no man should hesitate 
from want of learning to speak a word for Jesus; but 
the fullest knowledge of truth will not be found too great 
for him who is to claim the attention of unbelievers in 
public, expound to them the law of heaven, lay open to 
conscience their deep depravity, and persuade them to be 
reconciled to God. 

Many years ago the distinguished author of "The 
Apostolic Ministry" endeavored to explain the simple 
idea of preaching by the following incident : — 

"It so chanced that, at the close of the last war with 
Great Britain, I was temporarily a resident of the city of 
New York. The prospects of the nation were shrouded in 
gloom. We had been for two or three years at war with the 
mightiest nation on earth, and as she had now concluded a 
peace with the continent of Europe, we were obliged to cope 



VALUE OF THEOLOGY TO PASTORS. 489 

with her single-handed. Our harbors were blockaded. 
Communication coastwise between our ports was cut off. 
Our ships were rotting in every creek and cove where they 
could find a place of security. Our immense annual pro- 
ducts were moulding in our warehouses. The sources of 
profitable labor were dried up. Our currency was reduced 
to irredeemable paper. The extreme portions of our coun- 
try were becoming hostile to each other, and differences 
of political opinion were embittering the peace of every 
household. The credit of the government was exhausted. 
Xo one could predict when the contest would terminate, 
or discover the means by which it could much longer be 
protracted. It happened that, on a Saturday afternoon in 
February, a ship was discovered in the offing, which was 
supposed to be a cartel, bringing home our Commissioners 
at Ghent from their unsuccessful mission. The sun had 
set gloomily before any intelligence from the vessel had 
reached the city. Expectation became painfully intense as 
the hours of darkness drew on. At length a boat reached 
the wharf, announcing the fact that a treaty of peace had 
been signed, and was waiting for nothing but the action 
of our government to become a law. The men on whose 
ears these words first fell rushed in breathless haste into 
the city to repeat them to their friends, shouting as they 
ran through the streets, 'Peace, peace, peace! ' Every 
one who heard the sound repeated it. From house to 
house, from street to street, the news spread with electric 
rapidity. The whole city was in commotion. ]\Len bearing 
lighted torches were flying to and fro, shouting like mad- 
men, ' Peace, peace, peace ! ' When the rapture had par- 
tially subsided, one idea occupied every mind. But few 
men slept that night. In groups they were gathered in the 
streets and by the fireside, beguiling the hours of midnight 
by reminding each other that the agony of war was over, 
and that a worn-out and distracted country was about to 
enter again upon its wonted career of prosperity. Thus, 
every one becoming a herald, the news soon reached every 
man, woman, and child in the citv, and in this sense the 



490 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

city was evangelized. . . . This then is, I think, the gen- 
eric idea of preaching conveyed in the New Testament. It 
is the proclamation to every creature .of the love of God to 
men through Christ Jesus. This is the main idea." 

How perfect this description of a thrilling event ! 
Every sentence adds life to the picture till we see the 
people rushing through the streets, frantic with joy, and 
hear the cry of " Peace, peace ! " from a thousand lips, far 
and near. All thoughts, interests, emotions, are driven 
like autumn leaves before the rush of that one joyful 
message. And if those at war with the King of Heaven 
were not wilfully blind, and deaf, and obstinate, prefer- 
ring evil to good, and rebellion to loyalty, — if some of 
them were not saying in their hearts : " No God ! " and 
others, " How doth God know ? " and yet others, " Can 
He judge through the thick cloud ? " — if in this avenue 
there were no Pharisees, making broad their phylacteries 
and gathering about them the robe of self-righteousness ; 
and in that street no servants of Mammon, busy with 
their merchandise and laying plans to tear down and 
build greater ; and in yonder lighted halls no votaries of 
pleasure, saying : " Let us eat and drink, for to-morrow 
we die," — if the people understood the resources of Him 
whose power they have defied, and saw the gathering 
storm of wrath about to fall upon their heads, — if they 
knew themselves to be bankrupt, impotent, defenceless, 
felt the miseries of their present lot, and foresaw their 
utter overthrow and ruin in the future, — if they were 
oppressed with a sense of their perilous state, weary of 
the hopeless conflict, ready to ground the weapons of 
their rebellion, and longing for peace with God, — in a 
word, if they were just what they are not, truly penitent 
for their sins and anxious for the divine favor, then 



VALUE OF THEOLOGY TO PASTORS. 491 

would they hear the glad news of pardon through Christ, 
even as the people of our great metropolis heard the 
tidings of peace in the evening twilight of that memo- 
rable day, and the work of an evangelist would require 
little more than fervid zeal, with swiftness of foot and 
strength of lungs. But alas ! alas ! no such welcome 
greets the herald of peace from the courts of heaven. 
No such preparation opens for him a way to every heart. 
Some hear his message with the ear, but give no heed to 
its meaning. Some admit its weight, but defer action for 
the present. Some deny its truth, or attempt to pervert 
its language. Some reject the gospel of peace and devise 
a plan of their own. Some are careless, some busy, some 
reckless, and all with one consent begin to make excuse. 
It is therefore necessary for the ambassadors of Christ to 
urge their message upon reason, conscience, and heart, to 
depict the majesty of their King, the guilt of those who 
trample on his authority, the ruin which persistent rebel- 
lion will bring on them, the blessedness in store for all 
who accept of pardon through Christ, the nature of this 
act of acceptance, and the danger unspeakable of post- 
poning it for an hour. To do this they should know, if 
possible, all the weapons in the armory of truth, and be 
able to conquer the reason, pierce the conscience, alarm 
the fears, and touch the sensibilities. They should be 
able to follow up their work from week to week, giving 
the sinner no rest from argument, admonition, entreaty, 
till he is brought to cry for pardon. Swiftness of foot 
and strength of lungs, though moved by zeal, will not 
suffice for this work. Great faith, rich experience, and 
abundant knowledge are in full request. 

But the work df Christian pastors has respect to others 
besides the ungodly. When the elders of the Ephesian 



492 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

Church had come at Paul's request to Miletus, he re- 
viewed his own ministry with them and added this 
charge : " Take heed, therefore, unto yourselves, and to all 
the flock over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you 
overseers, to feed the church of God which he hath pur- 
chased with his own blood." And writing to the Ephe- 
sians, he speaks of " pastors and teachers " as being given 
" for the perfecting of the saints," " for the edifying of the 
body of Christ," and makes the aim and end of their 
work to be this, that believers " be no more children, 
tossed to and fro, and carried about by every wind of 
doctrine," but perfect men, having " come into the unity 
of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God." 
And this is not all. In his address to the elders he fore- 
bodes the coming " in of grievous wolves, not sparing the 
flock," and the rising up of heretics in the Church itself, 
" speaking perverse things to draw away disciples after 
them ; " while in his letter to the Ephesians he refers to 
"the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby 
they lie in wait to deceive." So likewise does he remind 
Timothy that " some will depart from the faith, speaking 
lies in hypocrisy ; " and correcting a few of their errors, 
he says : " If thou put the brethren in remembrance of 
these things, thou shalt be a good minister of Jesus, 
nourished up in the words of faith and of sound doctrine, 
whereunto thou hast attained." The members of our 
churches ought therefore to be carefully indoctrinated, to 
prevent them from falling into hurtful errors, to strengthen 
their Christian virtues, and to qualify them for usefulness. 
They should be well grounded in a knowledge of the 
doctrines to protect them from the assaults of error. 
Never, perhaps, since the advent of Christ, have more 
zeal and adroitness been employed in leading the simple 



VALUE OF THEOLOGY TO PASTORS. 493 

astray than at the present time. Satan masks his bat- 
teries, displays a counterfeit banner of truth, transforms 
himself into an angel of light, adapts his doctrine to the 
weakness or prejudice of his victim, — does everything 
which craft can devise or malice execute, to lure the 
unwary from their allegiance to Christ. Just at the 
point where some great doctrine rises above the human 
understanding and expands into the infinite, or just at 
the point where it presses heavily on the conscience and 
rouses the hostility of a sinful heart, a slight change of 
view is proposed, — a change which the Word of God, 
with no great violence to its obvious meaning, is said to 
permit, — and withal a change so helpful to charity, so 
agreeable to feeling, so full of relief to a stout will and 
sore conscience, that the half-taught and unsuspecting 
child of faith welcomes it at once ; not knowing that it 
necessitates a change in every doctrine of Christianity, 
and will carry him at length into the arms of " another 
gospel ; " not knowing that it will weaken his faith, with- 
draw him from Christ, and hinder his growth in grace, 
if it does not destroy his soul. Forewarned, forearmed. 
Had he been made thoroughly acquainted with the leading 
truths of Christianity, and with the points from which 
errors do and must take their departure, he would have 
rejected at once the slight but fatal change proposed, and 
would have clung with steadfast faith to the certain truth 
of God. Hence it is the duty of pastors to be teachers of 
sound doctrine, preparing the members of their spiritual 
nock to shun all the snares and pitfalls of error. 

It is also their duty to instruct believers in the prin- 
ciples of Christian truth, in order by so doing to promote 
their spiritual growth. The knowledge thus given will 
meet, as we have already seen, a great want of human 



494 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

nature, — whether contemplated as rational, moral, or 
religious. I must not tax your patience by going over 
the ground again, however much could be added to the 
argument, but will simply ask you to bear in mind that 
these three departments of our spiritual being, and modes 
of our spiritual life and action, interpenetrate one another, 
so that what is for the good of one is for the good of all, 
and what is hurtful to one injures all. The strictly re- 
ligious emotions, faith, love, adoration, cannot be pure 
and healthful while the intuitions of moral right or the 
impulses of conscience are disregarded. Genuine piety 
and morality will flourish or languish together. The 
same is true of reason and faith ; they cannot be 
divorced; and if one of them suffers, the other must 
suffer with it. A robust, manly, growing piety must be 
intelligent, rooted indeed in love, but nourished by the 
words of sound doctrine. It may be found where there 
is zeal according to knowledge, but not where reason is 
despised and blind emotion deified, nor where feeling is 
set at naught and logic enthroned as a god. Weeds grow 
without culture, and errors flourish in the dark ; but true 
religion claims a prepared soil, a warm light, refreshing 
showers, and varied culture ; for it promises a perfect 
fruit, a living soul, large, strong, pure, complete, every 
faculty matured, every susceptibility refined, every stain 
removed. Time and culture are requisite, and the work 
of the spiritual husbandman is but just begun when the 
seed of divine truth first takes root in the regenerated 
heart ; it must be watched and watered and kept in the 
sun ; the weeds of error must not be suffered to take its 
life, nor the cares of the world to choke it. In a word, 
Christian pastors are called to labor for the spiritual 
growth of those in the churches, and to make them fami- 



VALUE OF THEOLOGY TO PASTORS. 495 

liar with the doctrines of Christianity is one of the best 
means of doing this. 

Thirdly, they ought carefully to indoctrinate believers 
for the sake of augmenting their usefulness. Pastors are 
not called to stand alone and labor without sympathy or 
aid. Many of those to whom they preach should be 
efficient helpers in the work, established in doctrine, wise 
in counsel, blameless in life, and prompt in action. In 
some of his letters Paul commends churches as a whole 
for their faith, love, knowledge, and various members in 
particular for their fidelity and co-operation. He ex- 
pected to receive spiritual benefit from intercourse with 
the saints in Eome, being comforted by their faith ; he 
gave thanks to God on behalf of the Corinthians, that in 
every thing they were enriched by Christ in all utter- 
ance and in all knowledge, and he rejoiced in the faith of 
the Colossians, and their love to all the saints, praying 
that they might be filled with the knowledge of Christ's 
will, in all wisdom and spiritual understanding. Is it 
not plain that the apostle highly valued the influence of 
laymen in the Church ? — that he not only wished them 
to grow in grace and knowledge, but relied upon them as 
helpers in making known the truth, and persuading men 
to receive it ? And John says : " I write unto you, young 
men, because ye are strong and the word of God abideth 
in you, and ye have overcome the wicked one." He de- 
clares with joy that they were not ignorant of the truth, 
but they knew it and were able to detect the sophistries 
of Antichrist. But I need not refer to the sacred oracles. 
It is enough for any one to look abroad, and note the in- 
fluences which control thought and determine conduct in 
the world. Men effect very little in the pastorate, unless 
sustained by intelligent piety in their churches ; and 



496 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

those who succeed, by the grace of God, in transferring 
their own knowledge, and infusing their own spirit into 
a considerable number of their flock, act through them 
far more powerfully than they could alone. They are 
living many lives, and speaking with many voices. Their 
principles are set forth by example and advocated in 
speech, not merely in the praying circle, but also by the 
sacred hearthstone and in the marts of trade ; and the 
spreading waves of their influence will never cease to 
bless mankind. 1 

1 Christian Review, 1863. 



CHAEACTEE TESTED BY EELIGIOUS INQUIEY. 

THE conditions of human life are such as to test the 
characters of men. These conditions are perhaps 
never the same for any two persons the world over, or 
for the same person during any two periods of his earthly 
course ; but various and ever-changing as they are, they 
are all adapted to prove the hearts subjected to them. 

It may be affirmed with confidence that every possible 
employment tests the faith of Christians in their Lord. 
There is no occupation so sacred or useful as to withdraw 
them from spiritual conflicts, and conduct them by an 
easy and peaceful way into the rest that remains for the 
people of God. By one means or another their loyalty 
and trust and love will be proved. 

But the means employed for this purpose are generally 

found in the nature and pressure of their work, as related 

to their spiritual condition. God has no occasion to try 

them by special providences. And so it comes to pass, 

under his wise control, that the tests of Christian faith for 

persons when engaged in religious study are not precisely 

the same as those for persons when engaged in business. 

" Eeligion," says Bishop Butler, " consists in submission 

and resignation to the Divine will. Our condition in this 

world is a school of exercise for this temper; and our 

ignorance, the shallowness of our reason, the temptations, 

difficulties, afflictions, which we are exposed to, all equally 

32 



498 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

contribute to make it so. Therefore difficulties in specu- 
lation as much come into the notion of a state of disci- 
pline, as difficulties in practice : and so the same reason 
or account is to be given of both. Thus . . . the strict 
discharge of our duty, with less sensible evidence, does 
imply in it a better character than the same diligence in 
the discharge of it upon more sensible evidence. This 
fully accounts for and explains the assertion of our 
Saviour: "Blessed are they that have not seen and yet 
have believed." These sentences deserve to be carefully 
weighed by every student. For the natural drift of 
inquiry will bring every student, sooner or later, to the 
supreme question of religion, not merely as a way of 
living, but also as a subject of investigation ; not merely 
as something which controls men here, but as something 
which has its permanent place among the great forces of 
the universe. But while it is true that we cannot turn 
away from this supreme question without wrong to our- 
selves, it is no less true that we cannot approach and 
handle it without having our candor and reverence tried 
as they can be tried in no other way. The tests of 
Christian faith involved in religious inquiry are probably 
even more searching than those brought by the rush and 
competition of business. And if spiritual life is not sus- 
tained by daily communion with God there is danger of 
profaning the work of investigation, and of falling into 
the snare of intellectual pride or into the abyss of 
despondency. 

But just the reverse of this is possible ; and to some 
persons a careful and profound study of religious ques- 
tions has been a source of rapid growth in holy affections 
as well as in true knowledge. While searching diligently 
for the reasons of the hope that is in them, they have 



CHARACTER TESTED BY RELIGIOUS INQUIRY. 499 

retained their joy in that hope. Glad of the clearer 
though still imperfect light which was entering their 
minds, they have clung to the cross with ever increasing 
trust, and to the Saviour who gave himself for them with 
ever deepening love. 

It may therefore be profitable for us to look at some of 
the tests or trials which are to be encountered in the 
study of religion, and at the way in which they should 
be met. And in doing this we may take the following 
words of Paul as a guide : " How unsearchable are his 
judgments and his ways past tracing out ! " for they 
direct our attention to one of the severest tests of faith to 
which any man is subjected in this life, namely, the 
mysteries of the Christian religion. 

The peculiar force of this trial arises, in the first place, 
from an acceptance of the maxim that reason is deeper 
than faith, and is in fact the only stable foundation on 
which faith can rest. This maxim, which is only a half- 
truth at best, is thought to be established by saying that 
mere belief, without rational grounds for it, is blind and 
superstitious, quite as likely to lead one out of the path of 
truth as into that path. But if by the " rational grounds " 
for a belief, are meant grounds comprehended by him 
who has the belief, so that all unreasoned belief is pro- 
nounced blind and worthless as a guide to duty, the 
maxim is not even a half-truth. For it proceeds on the 
assumption that sensation, perception, taste, desire, in- 
stinct, intuition, conscience, and in fact all the primary 
lights and guides of life, are absolutely untrustworthy 
until they are approved by reasoning, — an assumption 
which is manifestly incorrect. 

Yet the principal end of religious study is without 
doubt a knowledge of the reasons for the faith we hold. 



500 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

And the importance of this end cannot be denied. It is 
natural for every Christian to seek the clearest under- 
standing possible of all things pertaining to God and his 
salvation, and especially natural for those who have not 
yet learned the limits of the human understanding. But 
they often hope for more satisfaction from this quest 
than it is able to afford. And if they possess a critical 
spirit, and have great confidence in the human under- 
standing, if they expect to learn more by weighing argu- 
ments than by looking at facts, 'or by patient research 
than by communing with God, if they disregard the 
maxim " to pray well is to study well," and think to 
comprehend by sheer force of intellect divine truth in all 
its bearings, and the God whom it reveals in all his wis- 
dom, — one of two results is sure to follow ; they will either 
close their eyes to all signs of divine ways and judgments 
which transcend their modicum of reason, and, making 
themselves the measure of all things will be lifted up 
with vanity, or they will be troubled and humbled by 
the mysteries of truth, and only after many a conflict 
enter the paths of peace. 

For no man is wise enough to solve all the riddles of 
the universe. Whoever seriously undertakes to do this, 
will find, as John Foster well said, that the small sphere 
of light in which he moves about is encompassed by 
darkness, and that the surface of the surrounding dark- 
ness increases just as rapidly as the sphere of light in- 
creases. Let us, then, look at a few things embraced in 
religion, and especially in the Christian religion, which 
cannot be perfectly comprehended by us in our present 
state. 

The existence of a personal God is the first principle of 
religion and is believed by every man who deserves to be 



CHARACTER TESTED BY RELIGIOUS INQUIRY. 501 

called a Christian. But this belief is to be tested, the 
foundations of it examined, the reasons which justify it 
sought out and weighed. And so the inquirer begins to 
ask himself : Is my belief in a personal God one that can 
be vindicated from every assault; one that can be raised 
above the possibility of doubt ? Is it not rather a belief 
handed down by tradition from a darker age, and un- 
worthy of respect at the present time ? With these ex- 
treme alternatives in mind, he may plunge into a sea of 
argument, and drift about for many days without sight of 
sun or star. Such an experience is sometimes inevitable, 
or almost inevitable. But a Christian man, who has al- 
ready tasted and seen that the Lord is good, is often war- 
ranted in searching calmly for reasons which he knows 
must exist and must be valid, and his only anxiety may 
be to find those reasons, whether moral or demonstrative, 
whether drawn from many sources or from one, — being 
doubtful, not whether the reasons exist, but only whether 
he is able to discover and comprehend them. In either 
case, however, a thorough study of this first question will 
suggest to every thoughtful mind oceans of being and of 
truth yet unexplored. 

But suppose the reasons for Theism are found strong 
enough to overcome every objection, so that in spite of 
the disorder and suffering and sin which darken the 
world, belief in a personal God is seen to be rational, 
what will be the next question demanding consideration ? 
Doubtless this : How ought one to think of God ? What 
perfections must belong to his nature ? And so important 
is the answer to this question that a true inquirer will 
desire to consult every source of knowledge within his 
reach in preparing that answer. Hence a previous ques- 
tion will emerge : Are the Scriptures a true revelation 



502 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

from God, so that we may use them in studying his 
character ? 

But to verify by careful study and a sound process of 
reasoning the divine authority of the Scriptures is a task 
of no little difficulty. The path over which the faithful 
inquirer must pass may appear straight and safe from a 
distance, but he who follows it will meet many a " slough 
of despond " and " hill difficulty " and perhaps " valley of 
the shadow of death," as he presses forward. His way 
will be a probation. Nevertheless it is the King's way, 
and if he reaches the end he will have his reward. The 
Bible will be to him another and a greater book, and he 
will resort to it without fear in learning the character of 
God. 

Returning now from the vital question of Biblical 
authority to God, the central object of religion, he will 
ask again : How must I conceive of the Most High ? 
What are the perfections of his nature ? And the answer 
will readily come : He must be self-existent and there- 
fore eternal. But a further question will arise : Is he 
also omnipresent, omniscient, and almighty, as the Bible 
seems to teach, and as our religious nature seems to 
desire ? If so, he must be incomprehensible to us who 
are finite ; if not, he must himself be finite. The former 
is doubtless true ; for our religious nature is not adjusted 
to any imaginary object of worship, nor is the teaching of 
Scripture vain. Yet the omnipresence and omniscience of 
God perplex our understanding. Eeason and imagination 
are baffled in every attempt to conceive of him as existing 
without relations to space and time, and they are no less 
baffled in every attempt to conceive of him as omnipres- 
ent and omniscient while holding in his inmost being 
any imaginable relations to space and time. Thus human 



CHARACTER TESTED BY RELIGIOUS INQUIRY. 503 

reason is unable to comprehend the modes of his exist- 
ence, and we fall down and worship a Being whom we 
know but in part, whom we see through a glass darkly. 

A similar difficulty is met in studying the act of crea- 
tion. For to suppose that God brought into being, by his 
word, that which had no previous existence in any form, 
is to suppose what is incomprehensible ; but to deny that 
he did this is to affirm either dualism, that nature is 
eternally coexistent with God, or pantheism, that nature 
is an eternal externalization of God. In this dilemma a 
devout Christian will assuredly be led by the impulses of 
his religious nature, and by the more obvious sense of 
Scripture, to accept the mystery, even though it " passeth 
knowledge." But his failure to comprehend the ways of 
God in creation will test his faith. 

Then, bearing in mind the great law that intelligent 
action always seeks to compass a certain end or ends, he 
will endeavor to ascertain, if possible, the chief end of 
God in creation. But the view that this end was merely 
God's own glory, he will not find it easy to reconcile with 
the divine self-sufficiency, or perhaps with God's love to 
men. The view that this end was the production of holy 
character in moral beings, he will not find it easy to 
reconcile with the inconceivably great numbers of sensi- 
tive beings that fill the world with life, while they seem 
to give no evidence of moral discernment. And the view 
that this end was the production of happiness in sentient 
beings, he will find it difficult to reconcile with the su- 
preme emphasis which is laid upon right character and 
true religion by the voice of God in man's nature and 
in Holy Scripture. I do not say that his search will be 
wholly vain, or that he may not satisfy himself that God 
meant to accomplish many worthy ends by his act of 



504 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

creation, but it is very possible that he will close his in- 
vestigation with the apostle's language : " How unsearch- 
able are his judgments, and his ways past tracing out ! " 

So, too, when he turns his attention from the ends 
which God proposed to himself in creating the universe, 
to the means and methods by which he chose to attain 
those ends, — that is, to the question of Divine providence, 
— he will encounter another set of facts which transcend 
his powers of reason. Among these will be the moral 
freedom of created beings. For the mere fact of freedom, 
taken by itself, presents to human thought an ultimate 
and insoluble problem. For ages the keenest intellects 
have striven and striven in vain, to discover the secret of 
it. But the fact is sure as life. He who denies it will in 
spite of himself straightway affirm it. The moral instinct 
and consciousness that sit enthroned in the centre of his 
being will mock at logical incredulity, and compel him to 
recognize his own freedom, and the freedom of his brother 
man. 

But, accepting the fact of human freedom, the inquirer 
is brought face to face with another mystery, the relation 
of God to moral evil. How can the holiness of God be 
reconciled with his agency in creating beings that commit 
sin ? And how can the certain attainment of the worthy 
ends sought by him in creation be reconciled with this 
freedom ? 

In answer to the former question, How can the holiness 
of God be reconciled with his agency in creating beings 
that commit sin ? it may be said, first, that it is one thing 
to make sin possible, and another thing to make it neces- 
sary ; one thing to create beings who can and will do 
what is forbidden as wrong, but quite a different thing to 
create beings for the sake of having them do wrong. 



CHARACTER TESTED BY RELIGIOUS INQUIRY. 505 

And, secondly, it may be said that to create beings able 
to do wrong because this ability is involved in the power 
to do right, is a different thing from creating beings en- 
dued with a power to do wrong which is not needed as a 
power to do right. Still further, it may be seen that, to 
create beings who are able and even certain to do wrong, 
because only such beings can furnish the highest kind 
of moral excellence below the Divine, is quite a different 
thing from creating beings who are needlessly furnished 
with this power of evil-doing. But when all this is said, 
we perceive that the explanation is one that makes large 
demands upon faith. If it satisfies, it satisfies because 
the stern and dreadful fact of sin is before our eyes, 
while the voices of conscience and of trust are heard in 
our souls. We are sure that the Judge of all the earth 
will do right, and we therefore do our best, by careful 
explanation, to make this appear evident, or at least 
possible, to reason. 

But for the second question : How can the certain 
attainment of the holy ends sought by God in creation 
be reconciled with this moral freedom in his creatures ? 
it is more difficult still to find an answer satisfactory to 
human reason. True, we can say and believe that cer- 
tainty is distinguishable from necessity, that the latter 
is not the only possible condition of the former, and that 
to the eye of God a contingent event may be certain. 
But we believe and say this, not because we comprehend 
the case and see how a contingent event may be certain 
to God, but because we accept, on evidence that com- 
mands our assent, certain promises that lead to this con- 
clusion, and because we are convinced that there are 
more things in the universe than our philosophy is able 
to explain. And so it happens that in rational specula- 



506 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

tion we return again and again to the problem : How can 
such a supremacy and control over the universe as our 
religious nature (to say nothing of Holy Scripture) as- 
cribes to the most high God, consist with a moral free- 
dom in his creatures that enables them to trample on 
his law and defy his power ? And when the answer is 
not forthcoming, we are glad to adopt the language of 
Paul and exclaim with true joy of heart, " How unsearch- 
able are his judgments, and his ways past tracing out ! " 

Having thus looked at the problem of moral freedom 
and its terrible issue, sin, as related to the government 
of God, the Christian reasoner is constrained to take an- 
other step, and consider the present state of mankind 
in relation to God and his law. And if, considering that 
state in the light of experience, of observation, of history, 
and of Scripture, he becomes convinced that human na- 
ture is morally degenerate, that men inherit a bias to 
evil from their sinful ancestry, and that this bias was 
implanted in human nature by the sin of Eden, it will 
not be surprising if he shrinks in terror from the wall 
of darkness that rises up as a mountain before him. 
Can it be true, he exclaims, that the wondrous law of 
heredity, which conserves the order and symmetry and 
beauty of the world in every other sphere of life, has 
entailed the tremendous evil of depravity on mankind ? 
Away with such a law from the universe ! Let every 
man be a distinct creation, uninjured by the fall of 
others ! But it is useless to kick against the goads ; it 
is of no avail to dash one's self upon the solid granite 
of historic truth. God is great and wise ; man is weak 
and short-sighted. Let the zealous philosopher in re- 
ligion look to his facts ; for if these things are so, it is 
vain to deny them ; nay, if these things are so, there 



CHAKACTER TESTED BY RELIGIOUS INQUIRY. 507 

is light beyond the mountain wall of darkness, for the 
law which is beneficent in its general effect will surely 
be found righteous in the highest plane of life. 

If, however, a serious inquirer after truth should per- 
suade himself that the law of heredity does not prevail 
in the domain of spirit, he would nevertheless perceive 
the motions of sin in his own heart, and the trail of the 
serpent over all the works of man. And seeing these, 
he would be compelled to admit the moral constitution 
of mankind to be of such a character that all of them, 
with one consent, make choice of evil instead of good. 
And since he is pleased to regard their present constitu- 
tion as the unimpaired work of their Maker, this admis- 
sion exposes his theory to nearly all the objections which 
are urged against the law of heredity in moral dispo- 
sition, while that law rests upon a great amount of evi- 
dence, and sheds more light than any other on the 
actual condition of mankind. It is therefore more likely 
than any other to bear in itself, though yet dimly per- 
ceived, a valid justification of much that is now deemed 
severe. 

Yet, after all that can be said, the problem of native 
depravity — though that depravity is inherited according 
to a law of the widest sweep and most beneficent work- 
ing in other respects — is a problem that human reason 
cannot solve; and none but a reverent and trustful 
spirit will accept the facts of history without criticising 
the ways of God or finding fault with his judgments. 
Here, then, must the faith of every religious inquirer be 
tried, and the strength of his confidence in the Saviour, 
who offers to make good the. in jury brought by the fall, 
be proved. Here, if anywhere, philosophy fails and 
humility triumphs. 



508 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

These instances are sufficient to illustrate what is 
meant by the mysteries, or incomprehensible elements, 
of our religion, though I might go through the whole 
system of Christian doctrines, and show that almost 
every truth of that system leads up into the infinite and 
unsearchable. Who of us understands perfectly the per- 
son of Christ, the God-man ? the nature and extent of his 
sufferings in the garden or on the cross ? the manifold 
relations of his death to God and man ? the process of 
regeneration and turning to the Lord, as related to the 
Spirit of God, to the spirit of man, and to the light of 
truth ? Who of us can fully justify to his own reason, by 
facts in his own possession, the goodness of God in giving 
so much more light for centuries to the children of Israel 
than he gave to the other families of mankind ? or his 
goodness in postponing the advent of his Son in the flesh 
till the world was so old in sin, and so many generations 
of men had passed from the earth to return no more ? 
In a word, who of us, younger or older, has more than a 
partial, that is to say an imperfect, knowledge of any 
of Jehovah's ways ? " Light is sweet to the eye, and a 
pleasant thing it is to behold the sun ; " but we are as 
yet unable to look with steadfast gaze into the face of 
the lord of day, or to run with him through the circuit 
of the heavens, or to explore the measureless realms of 
space into which the rays of his glory go forth on their 
gracious errand. Partial knowledge is all we can now 
obtain in regard to any subject. Partial knowledge is 
all we can now have in matters of religion. And it is 
wholesome for us to bear this in mind while we investi- 
gate doctrines of surpassing interest. 

From the direction which has been pointed out, God 
comes to religious inquirers of our own day with his 



CHARACTER TESTED BY RELIGIOUS INQUIRY. 509 

testing discipline. This is not indeed the only way in 
which he comes to try them and prove them ; but it is 
one of the ways, and one that merits careful attention. 
How can his coming in this way be made the greatest 
blessing ? The answer is not difficult to give. By ac- 
cepting the lessons which such discipline teaches. And 
among these may be named the following : — 

1. A lesson of reverence. Of reverence towards God ; for 
it is his works that transcend our powers ; his judgments 
that are unsearchable ; hrs ways that are past finding 
out. Sir Eobert Boyle wrote a treatise on " th@ venera- 
tion which man's intellect owes to God," and his princi- 
pal aim, if my memory is not at fault, was to show that 
man's reverence to his Maker should be preserved in all 
his thinking about God. And I confess that it is always 
painful to me to hear any one, young or old, deal scorn- 
fully or lightly with the name of God, even if it be only 
by way of hypothesis ; if it be only by saying, if God be 
this or that, or if God do thus and so, he is a tyrant or 
a monster, unworthy of respect. Instantly, there echoes 
through my soul the voice of Paul's remonstrance: "Nay, 
but, man, who art thou that repliest against God ? " 
Especially is this the case when, as often happens, there 
is not a little in history and Scripture which seems to 
teach that God is " this or that," and does " thus and so." 
I am not in sympathy with the age when it deals 
irreverently with the Most High, and asserts its right to 
condemn his ways, while it denies his right to judge the 
world. At best we are children, catching now and then 
a glimpse of the infinite plans and methods of our Father 
in heaven, and we need a few billions of ages for the 
observation of facts, before we can issue the final philoso- 
phy of the universe. It will do us good to "inwardly 



510 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

digest " this truth. At all events, it will do us good to 
bow our heads when we utter the name of Jehovah, and 
to indulge the conviction that he is worthy of profound 
veneration. And never, perhaps, are we in greater 
danger of failing in this respect than when we are 
called, as we believe, to get at the philosophy of God's 
infinite plans by the aid of the rush-light of our feeble 
intelligence. 

2. A lesson of faith. For, wonderful as it seems, faith 
must increase with reasoned knowledge, or the Christian 
life will languish. This is not, perhaps, the common 
opinion, but it is nevertheless true. And, if you will 
believe it, God expects more faith in a Jew than in a 
Greek ; in a Christian than in a Jew ; and in a Christian 
who can reason well, than in a Christian who has little 
power of reflection ; and he expects this, not merely be- 
cause greater knowledge furnishes more nutriment to 
faith, but also because it reveals more difficulties for 
it to overcome, and lays upon it heavier burdens to 
bear. Brethren, permit me to say that trust in God 
and confidence in his revealed Word, as manifested in 
Jesus Christ, his Son, are not secondary matters in re- 
ligious inquiry or speculation, but rather primary, essen- 
tial, and vital. The whole system of Christian truth is 
meant for those who have put their hand in the hand 
of Christ, who have experienced the peace of sins for- 
given, and who are not likely to be shaken from their 
steadfast confidence in the Lord, though they perceive 
that clouds and darkness are round about him. And 
if you refuse to walk in his fear and love, the secret of 
his wisdom will not be revealed to your hearts. 

3. A lesson of hope. In the " Contemporary Keview," 
the Duke of Argyle urges the circumstance that we 



CHARACTER TESTED BY RELIGIOUS INQUIRY. 511 

recognize and feel the limits of our knowledge as evi- 
dence that those limits, though real, are temporary and 
ever retreating. If they marked the utmost capacity of 
our nature in this direction, they would not be felt as 
limits. And I believe his argument sound. If these 
limits were final and impassable, our curiosity would not 
be always beating against them, our reason would not be 
constantly trying to remove them, our imagination would 
not be evermore ready to attempt soaring above them for 
the purpose of obtaining a view of the regions beyond. 
The time will come when we shall no longer see through 
a glass darkly, but face to face, when we shall no longer 
know in part, but shall know even as we are known. 
Yet I venture not to assume that this wonderful lan- 
guage foretells a state in which progress ends because 
everything is known, in which finite being becomes in- 
finite, and the creature equal to the Creator. I rather 
believe that progress in that state will be swift and sure, 
that the universe, which is now for the most part dark, 
will become translucent. I rather believe that doubt and 
fear will vanish from upright souls, and that they will 
then advance in true knowledge, with the ease and cer- 
tainty which Milton in melodious verse ascribes to his 
angelic squadrons : — 

" On they move 
Indissolubly firm ; nor straitening vale, nor wood, nor stream divides 
Their perfect ranks ; for high above the ground 
Their march was, and the passive air upbore 
Their nimble tread." 

But twilight and doubt impede our progress now, for this 
is our probation. We are little children, as unprepared 
in character as we are in mental power, to meet the blaze 
of fuller knowledge. Yet under the guidance of the 



512 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

Divine Word and Spirit we are moving in the direction 
of highest truth, we are slowly but surely drawing nearer 
and nearer to the sun ; and with Christ, the most gracious 
Friend, as well as the deepest and most astonishing mys- 
tery of the ages, for our Saviour and Guide, our progress 
will be certain. 

The words of England's poet laureate may indeed be 
true : — 

" Forerun thy peers, thy time, and let 
Thy feet, millenniums hence, be set 
In midst of knowledge, dreamed not yet. 
Thou hast not gained a real height, 
Nor art thou nearer to the light, 
Because the scale is infinite" — 

yet, if you have the proto-martyr's Lord for your friend, 
the lines written of him may be true of you : — 

" But looking upward, full of grace, 
He prayed, and from a happy place 
God's glory smote him on the face." 

Take heart, then, my friends ; be thankful that there are 
limits to your knowledge here, since those limits furnish 
a part of your needed discipline in virtue and piety ; but 
fail not to be also thankful for the assurance that those 
limits are not fixed and ultimate. Then will you be able 
to join with the apostle in his sublime exclamation : " O 
the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowl- 
edge of God ! How unsearchable are his judgments, and 
his ways past finding out ! For who hath known the 
mind of the Lord ? or who hath been his counsellor ? or 
who hath first given to him, and it shall be recompensed 
unto him again ? For of him, and through him, and to 
him, are all things : to whom be glory forever. Amen." 



FELLOWSHIPS. 

THE theme of this paper is rather suggested than ex- 
pressed by its title ; for the academic meaning and 
use of the term " fellowships " belong especially to the col- 
lege system of England ; and it will be no part of our aim 
to advocate a reproduction of English colleges in America. 
We take it for granted that every nation has a life of its 
own, and will be served best by methods of education 
which spring naturally out of that life. Yet, as the deep- 
est principles. and wants of human nature are everywhere 
the same, it may also be taken for granted that institu- 
tions which have proved useful with one people may 
often, by slight changes, be adapted to the wants of 
another. And there are two features of the great English 
universities which may be imitated, if not copied, with 
great advantage by us. The Fellows of a college in Ox- 
ford or Cambridge owe their position to eminent scholar- 
ship, and they draw their support from the revenues of 
their college. Thus men of approved capacity are enabled 
to advance their knowledge and culture, by a life of study 
prolonged fai beyond the usual limits ; and from this body 
of scholars, go forth, year by year, accomplished teachers, 
preachers, and writers, to positions of the highest influ- 
ence. Is it not both desirable and possible that some 
provision analogous to the college fellowships of England 

33 



514 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

be made for a few, at least, of our young men ? In answer 
to this question, we venture to present the following con- 
siderations : — 

I. The need of men thus cultivated is very evident to the 
careful observer. It was so, for instance, to President 
Francis Wayland. Though he was wont to speak with 
peculiar delight of the usefulness of ministers not trained 
in the schools, and to urge with special earnestness the 
importance of lay-preaching for the good of the masses, 
he never called in question our need of men thoroughly 
educated ; he never thought it wise or possible to lower 
the standard of scholarship for those who are called to 
be teachers or interpreters. And if such a man as Presi- 
dent Wayland, keenly alive to the spiritual wants of the 
people, and fully convinced of the vast superiority of reli- 
gious power to mental, felt the need of a learned class to 
explore the sources of knowledge and lay them open to 
others, such a class may be presumed to be necessary to 
the best good of all. But we do not rely on the judg- 
ment of one man, however far-sighted and spiritual. We 
note for ourselves the signs of the times, and learn from 
the events of every year that we have few wants more 
pressing than that of a large accession to the number of 
young men in our ranks who are qualified, by their varied 
and exact learning, to take the place of leaders in the 
higher forms of education. How many of you will lament 
to the last hour of life the time consumed at college, or 
afterward, in learning what you ought not to have learned, 
or in not learning what you ought to have learned, while 
preparing for college under an incompetent teacher ! And 
how many incompetent teachers are even now fitting 
young men for disappointment and chagrin when they 
come under the eye of a true master ! But if it were in 



FELLOWSHIPS. 515 

your power to dismiss all these teachers by a word, it 
would be unsafe for you to speak that word; for you 
might not be able to fill their places with better ones. 
Do any of you know a score of genuine scholars who 
could and would accept a call to such a service ? Our 
colleges and higher seminaries, certainly, have no men 
of learning and culture to spare. Nor is there any super- 
abundance of learning in our pulpits. A few more ser- 
vants of God, deeply versed in his word and the history 
of his people, familiar with the great book of nature, and 
ready to intermeddle with all wisdom for the purpose of 
making it speak for Christ, would not have to seek fields 
of labor in some other part of the world because knowl- 
edge is at a discount here. They would be welcome to 
the best pulpits we have in the land. Looking at the 
matter, then, as one of present demand and supply, our 
need of men having superior learning and culture is 
manifest ; nor will it ever cease, unless we adopt the false 
maxim, that " ignorance is the mother of devotion." 

But our need of such men may also be affirmed on gen- 
eral principles ; for no large body of Christians can wisely 
neglect any important source of knowledge, — especially 
in view of the fact, becoming every day more evident, that 
the created universe is one, though manifold, and that all 
forms of being and power, throughout its wide domain, 
are interdependent. A devout scholar, starting from any 
part of that domain, will find his way at length to God; 
for all the paths of light conduct to him. But an undevout 
scholar, starting from whatever point, will be likely to 
move about continually whispering in his heart, "No 
God ; " for it is a truth not to be forgotten that close 
beside the paths of light — just over the stile, as Bunyan 
says — lie the cool and shady walks of error, and these 



516 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

alluring walks, by a trend scarcely perceptible to the un- 
suspicious eye, turn the explorer's face slowly away from 
the city of God, and lead him, as by the circumference of 
a great circle, back to his point of departure. But mean- 
while he has found what he sought; his eye has seen 
the beauty which it desired ; and now the whisper of his 
heart has become a word on his tongue. Having walked 
through the universe and noted its wonders, he has con- 
cluded to say, " There is no personal God." If this be not 
a rigid statement of fact, it is, at least, " founded on fact," 
and not unjust to many leaders of modern thought. 

Mark, then, the tendency of research in two or three 
directions. Of late the progress of physical science has 
been most rapid and cheering, — the discoveries of one 
branch hastening those of another, until the rate of ad- 
vance is nearly equal in all. But many explorers of 
nature are enemies of the cross, and more than one rea- 
son can be given why Christian scholars should not 
abandon to them this magnificent field of inquiry and 
source of truth ; for the word of Julius Miiller is perti- 
nent here, that " the answers which truth gives to a man 
depend very much upon the questions which he puts to 
truth ; " and " the manner in which he puts his ques- 
tions depends very much upon the principles which rule 
his life." Christian scholars should therefore stand on 
the high plane of nature, side by side with those who 
despise faith, to remind them of what they do not see, 
and to check their airy speculation ; while they also 
speak with the assurance of knowledge to their unsci- 
entific brethren, dispelling doubt and fear, overcoming 
prejudice arid sloth, and teaching them to rejoice in the 
lessons of nature as well as in the power of grace. 

Mark, also, the progress of linguistic science at the 



FELLOWSHIPS. 517 

present day. Observe how, with even broader sweep, 
it has gathered the phenomena of speech from all ages 
and tribes ; and how, with even grander audacity, it is 
grouping them for ultimate generalization. No sound 
or sign, however rude and strange, if it expresses human 
thought, is despised by the cultivators of this great 
science. Every scrap of record on parchment or stone 
is looked upon as sacred, and studied with the zeal of a 
devotee, if not with the reverence of a saint. But the 
distinctive aim of modern philology is this : to bring 
together and compare the results of separate inquiry ; 
to note affinities of structure and sound ; to sort and 
group the various languages of earth, until to the schol- 
ar's eye order takes the place of confusion and to the 
scholar's ear the many voices of mankind blend in har- 
mony like the parts of a solemn chorus. And the logical 
issues of this science, who can foretell ? They will ere- 
long unite with those of history and geology, of physi- 
ology and mental philosophy, to answer for us some 
of the highest questions which now agitate the world, — 
questions in respect to the unity, antiquity, and origin 
of our race. It cannot, then, be safe for us to neglect 
this vast domain ; for there are sounds in its atmosphere 
which unbelievers do not hear, there are hues in its sky 
which they do not see, and there are records on its stony 
tables which they do not read. It is therefore a part 
of our work, as a large body of Christians, to join them 
in exploring this domain, — a service to the cause of 
truth which we can hardly render without the aid of 
men who have improved superior advantages for pro- 
longed study. 

Nearly the same may be said of every other depart- 
ment of human knowledge. Our argument is therefore 



518- STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

cumulative, and its full power will be felt only by him 
who surveys the entire field of modern research, noting 
the lights and shadows which rest upon it. Such a man 
will see how much broader are the regions of twilight 
than those of noonday ; he will detect the subtle influ- 
ence of personal character in shaping the conclusions 
of science to its will ; and so he will appreciate our need 
of men whose tried ability and ample knowledge qualify 
them for high intellectual service. 

But granting our need of such men, it may perhaps 
be urged that a provision analogous to that of college 
fellowships in England would prove futile, or worse than 
futile, here. The end may be good, but the means 
of reaching it are questionable. We propose, then, to 
notice — 

II. Certain obstacles to the success of the measure in 
question. The measure may be described, in general 
terms, as a provision for the support of a few young men 
of approved character, ability, and scholarship, during 
a period of study reaching not more than five years be- 
yond the usual course. We defer a consideration of its 
particular features to the last part of our essay, but ask 
now, What may be regarded as obstacles to the success 
of the measure as a whole, provided its details can be 
satisfactorily arranged ? 

The most obvious of these is a want of funds. There 
is small reason, it may be said, for supposing that our 
brethren, who are vexed with almost daily appeals to 
erect buildings, support teachers, and assist students to 
finish the regular course, will undertake to give extra 
privileges of study to a select few. They will not take 
a step in advance until they have made good their pres- 
ent footing. They will not put their shoulders under a 



FELLOWSHIPS. - 519 

new burden while their strength is scarcely sufficient for 
the old. 

In reply to this objection, we think it enough to say 
that if the measure proposed does not commend itself to 
the good-sense of business men, it will of course fail ; 
but if it does, they can make provision at the outset for 
any number of scholars which they deem most expe- 
dient ; one to each institution would certainly not be 
a large number. We shut our eyes to the resources of 
our people, if we suppose them unable to provide at once 
all the funds needed for the support of a few choice 
young men in the way proposed ; and we underrate their 
Christian enterprise if we fear a disinclination on their 
part to do this when it is seen to be expedient. The 
recent munificent gifts of Mr. Eockefeller and Mr. Col- 
gate, not to mention those of less amount by other friends 
of Christian learning, justify this statement. It may 
take a little time to put this measure fairly before their 
minds so that they will appreciate its importance ; but 
if they are led to look upon it as being truly desirable 
as a measure tending to increase materially the influence 
which we are to wield for truth and for Christ, they will 
not withhold their money or their prayers ; and therefore 
we should not hesitate on the plea of denominational 
poverty, or of a mercenary spirit in our men of business, 
to look the question of post-graduate scholarships fully 
in the face ; and if the time has come when we need 
them in order to accomplish our high mission as a body 
of Christians, we may at once ask for the necessary funds, 
believing that they will be cheerfully given. It is our 
duty, as friends of learning, to beware of calling upon 
our brethren to found institutions or scholarships of 
doubtful utility ; but it is also our duty to encourage 



520 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

them in a wise liberality, in such a use of the means 
at their disposal as will result in the greatest permanent 
good ; and the Lord whom we serve will not hold us 
guiltless if we neglect to do this. 

Another of these obstacles is the alleged tendency of 
learned investigation to quench the ardor of piety. It 
seems to be a common opinion that an earnest pursuit of 
knowledge must interfere with the growth in grace, and 
even diminish the freshness and power of Christian life ; 
hence, as piety is far better than learning, it is inferred 
that the portion of life which is devoted to study should 
be made as brief as possible. 

In response to this objection, we freely admit that 
there is some reason for this opinion. It is certainly 
possible to pursue any object with too exclusive a zeal. 
Men do this in all the walks of life. The lawyer, the 
merchant, the mechanic, the farmer, is very likely to give 
more thought to his regular business, and less to Christ, 
than he ought; and on this account, ardor of religious 
feeling is sometimes subdued, and sometimes intrinsically 
weakened, by years of successful business. The same is 
true of the pursuit of knowledge ; it may divert the mind 
unduly from direct efforts to save men and honor God. 
But neither a life of business nor a life of study is there- 
fore to be shunned. Both are necessary for the good of 
man and the glory of Christ. Business and science can- 
not be relinquished to the ungodly, on the plea that 
faithful men are liable to be too much absorbed in them ; 
for the sources of knowledge are put within reach of 
Christians, not to be despised, but to be used. " Light is 
sown for the righteous ; " and a life of learned research is 
by no inherent tendency unfavorable to warmth of reli- 
gious feeling. Mental discipline and self-control may, 



FELLOWSHIPS. 521 

perhaps, temper the glow of emotion, making it more 
spiritual and less dependent on sense ; but they need not, 
and often do not, weaken its power. Breadth of view 
and generous culture may affect the style of expression, 
rendering it pure, exact, and strong, suggestive of even 
more than is said, but at the same time, less demonstra- 
tive than ruder forms of speech. These effects of learn- 
ing are pronounced, by one class of persons, good ; by 
another, bad. But they are to a certain extent superfi- 
cial ; they have little to do with the compass and energy 
of the inner life ; and that life will be sure, in some way, 
to make itself felt. It is, then, a mistake to estimate the 
piety of Christians by the greater or less vehemence of 
their expressions of feeling. The impulsive negro of the 
South may sing and shout, and respond with explosive 
emotion, where a thoughtful Christian, of riper culture, 
would be very quiet ; yet the former may have less spir- 
itual power than the latter, less depth of conviction, less 
steadiness of purpose, and even less pure religious feeling. 
Some years ago I chanced to pass near a group of Irish 
mourners in a Catholic burial-ground ; and as the coffin 
was lowered to its place in the earth, most of the large 
company broke forth in loud groans and wailing. A 
year later I stood with a group of American Protestants, 
beside the open grave of a friend extremely dear to us 
all ; but as the body was tenderly let down into its place 
of rest, the low sob and silent tear were all that spoke 
of grief. Yet no considerate person, acquainted with the 
two groups, would say that the cries and groans of the 
former betokened deeper feeling than the sobs and tears 
of the latter. The lesson is obvious : culture may great- 
ly modify the expression of religious emotion, without 
affecting its purity or depth. The Christian scholar is 



522 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

exposed to no temptation "but such as is common to 
man," and if he is led away from God, it is not by any 
tincture of evil in his employment, but by the deceitful- 
ness of his own heart. He needs, therefore, the same 
grace as men in other callings. Without it, he will fall, 
even as they ; with it, he will stand as certainly as they, 
and will serve the cause of truth in the high places of 
the field. 

A third obstacle to the success of the measure will be 
the call for able young men to engage at once in public 
service. The fields were long ago ripe for the harvest; 
they have remained so ever since ; and they will continue 
to be so to the end of time. There will be a cry from 
Macedonia so long as the world stands. But there is an 
old adage, " Make haste slowly ; " and we think it no 
heresy to apply this adage to those who are looking to 
the ministry as their life-work. There are kinds of busi- 
ness which cannot be taken up to advantage without 
preparation ; and there are forms of spiritual labor which 
do not belong to a novice. The leader of an army needs 
more knowledge than is possessed by the raw recruit ; 
and the same is true of all leaders in education or reli- 
gion. This has sometimes been forgotten. Not rarely, in 
past years, have able young men been importuned to 
abridge their theological course, and enter the pulpit at 
once ; and this importunity has too often prevailed. Per- 
haps we ought not to say " too often ; " for we believe, 
and it is a very wonderful fact, that nearly every church 
which has urged a student to curtail his preparation for 
the work of life, has felt itself to be, just at the time, in 
a peculiar state, in a sort of crisis, making it perfectly 
evident that no one but the young man of its choice 
could save it from disaster, and that he might be unable 



FELLOWSHIPS. 523 

to do this at any moment but the present. And surely, if 
we can feel that, for every instance of a young man cut- 
ting short his course of study for the ministry, a good 
church has been saved, it will do much to reconcile us 
with the past ; for churches are of God, and if he plants 
them they are worth saving. But ministers are also of 
God ; and we therefore hope that our churches may here- 
after be preserved from such peculiar crises, or else de- 
livered from them by means which will not diminish 
through life the power for good of their own pastors. It 
must, however, be hoped and expected that the call to 
immediate service will always be urgent ; but it should 
also be borne in mind that, if a given number of persons 
are to spend life in preaching the gospel, or in the higher 
departments of education, it is wisdom and economy to 
have them master-workmen, able to make the most of 
their native capacity and of their high office. Twenty- 
five years of superior labor, in moulding the characters 
and opinions of men, will be better than thirty years of 
inferior labor, even though the difference in quality ap- 
pear to be slight. But we question whether prolonging 
the period of preparation will shorten the period of pub- 
lic service. We suppose it to be a fact that those who 
enter the Christian ministry after a thorough preparation 
labor, on an average, as many years as those who begin 
in earlier life, but with less preparation. And if this be 
so, the sacrifice made by one who is urged into the pas- 
toral work prematurely is well-nigh equalized by the 
loss to the churches resulting from this course. 

But whatever may be said in favor of entering the 
ministry with little mental culture, there can nothing 
be said in favor of unlearned men for teachers in the 
higher branches of knowledge. There have, indeed, been 



524 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

a few distinguished educators, whose advantages for 
study had been limited ; but they have taught in de- 
partments which did not require extensive and accurate 
learning. This is the rule, and we need not trouble 
ourselves about rare exceptions. We must, then, in some 
way, provide a corps of eminent scholars, able to fill the 
highest places in our seats of learning ; and there seems 
to be no more feasible plan, for doing this than the one 
now in question. We are, therefore, confident that young 
men, who have a genuine love of learning, a large capac- 
ity for investigation and acquisition, and a probable apti- 
tude for teaching, will be ready to avail themselves of a 
suitable provision for post-graduate study, in spite of the 
inducements which may tempt them to go at once into 
public life. 

These, we think, are the chief obstacles to the measure 
proposed ; and our conclusion is accordingly this : that 
neither the anticipated reluctance of business men to 
provide the funds, nor the alleged tendency of learned 
research to quench the ardor of Christian love, nor the 
pressing claims of public life on the service of pious 
scholars, ought to make us doubt the wisdom of such 
a measure. We are rather of the opinion that these 
obstacles, and any others which might be named, will 
only tend to the ultimate success of the plan, by insur- 
ing greater caution and wisdom in carrying it into effect. 
And this remark brings us to our third topic, namely : 

III. A statement of certain particulars embraced in the 
measure under discussion. It will be recollected that two 
features of the English college fellowships were spoken 
of at the beginning of this paper as being worthy of imi- 
tation, namely : that the Fellows of an English college 
owe their position to eminent scholarship, and that they 



FELLOWSHIPS. 525 

draw their support from the revenues of their college. 
Thus provision is made for the support of true scholars, 
and care is taken to select them wisely. And these are 
the cardinal points of the plan we have in mind, though 
it will be found, when considered in detail, to differ in 
many respects from the English model. In order, then, 
to treat the matter practically, we shall speak of the 
selection of suitable persons to be supported ; of the way 
in which they should employ their time ; of the period 
during which they should receive support; and of the 
amount which should be given to each one yearly. 

1. The selection of suitable "Fellows" to be supported. 
This is a matter of the gravest importance. If men of 
sterling worth and high scholarship can, as a rule, be 
selected, we have, indeed, begun to look in the right 
direction, and may move boldly on. And we begin by 
saying that the fellowships contemplated,- so far at least 
as they are founded by ourselves, should be, at the out- 
set, for Baptist graduates of approved Christian faith and 
life. This limitation is suggested by the ends we are 
seeking, namely : to provide competent teachers for our 
best institutions of learning; to foster a reverent search 
for truth in every field of science ; to illustrate the con- 
cord between liberal culture and genuine faith ; and, in 
a word, to do our part, as a body of Christians, in fur- 
nishing the world leaders of religious thought, and mas- 
ters of all good knowledge. To accomplish these ends, 
we must educate Baptist scholars ; for no others will 
represent us in letters, or science, or theology. 

The time may come when it will be both wise and 
modest for us to establish fellowships, and give them 
to young men having a religious belief different from 
ours, or having no religion at all ; but we do not think 



526 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

it has yet come. Our actual position in the world of 
letters, and the work we have to do pro Chrislo et ecclesid, 
call upon us to provide the best educational advantages 
for young men whose views of truth agree with our own ; 
and until we have made provision for them it is hardly 
our duty to offer assistance of this kind to others, espe- 
cially as others, if members of almost any church, can 
have whatever help they need from persons of their own 
denomination. It is not, indeed, our view that any re- 
striction of a religious nature should be put upon these 
fellowships, except by the founders ; and we take it for 
granted that a founder who belongs to any sect will feel 
a special interest in providing for the higher education 
of those who agree with him in faith ; while friends of 
science, who. care not for religion, will be likely to estab- 
lish fellowships for those who give themselves wholly to 
science. All this should be approved; but our present 
and urgent duty, as Baptists, is to make suitable pro- 
vision for scholars in our own ranks. This is the point 
where we should begin, while we encourage others to 
join in the measure likewise. 

In the next place, we hold that the fellowships in 
question should be offered to those only who stand the 
test of a thorough examination by competent scholars, — 
an examination similar, in respect of thoroughness, to 
that which young men are subject to on the continent 
of Europe before taking a degree. We lay great stress 
on this condition. If a man who has been graduated 
from college cannot pass successfully through this or- 
deal, he may as well relinquish the hope of becoming 
an eminent scholar; and still more emphatically may 
this be said of one who has also been graduated from 
a theological seminary. At this point, moreover, it 



FELLOWSHIPS. 527 

would be natural, and perhaps desirable, to introduce 
the principle of competition, allowing more than one 
to apply for the same fellowship, and making the elec- 
tion depend in some degree on the result of an exami- 
nation. We say, " in some degree," but not wholly ; for 
the judgment of teachers, founded on long and careful 
observation, should, of course, have an influence on the 
decision; yet their appropriate influence may, perhaps, 
be secured by making the privilege of examination for 
a scholarship depend on a recommendation from the 
student's teachers in the college or seminary. Besides, 
it would seem to be necessary for the appointing board 
to look beyond the single question of learning, and have 
some regard to good sense and energy, likewise ; for these 
are indispensable to success in teaching. 

In the third place, the fellowships under consideration 
should be given, as far as practicable, to such graduates 
as are commissioned by the proper authorities to act as 
private teachers in the school from which they are 
graduated. This limitation was suggested by a usage 
which prevails in the great German universities. Young 
men of distinguished scholarship and great promise are 
licensed by the authorities, to give instruction to classes 
voluntarily formed in the university ; and being thus 
endorsed, they are able, it is found, to obtain a hearing 
and test their ability to impart knowledge as well as to 
receive it ; and there is reason to believe that the privi- 
lege and responsibility of teaching, though without any 
salary, are of great service to these young men, by giving 
to their studies an immediate and definite aim, and by 
compelling them to put the results of their inquiry into 
form for use. But the advantages of teaching in this way 
cannot be greater to a German scholar than they would 



528 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

be to an American. They may be less ; for the German 
mind cares less, we think, about perfection of form and 
style than the American. Besides, if a young man of the 
finest scholarship should be found unable to hold a vol- 
unteer class together, and therefore unfitted for the work 
of teaching, he could be advised to relinquish his fel- 
lowship, and the purpose which led him to accept it. 
Perhaps the continuance of support beyond a given time, 
say two years, could be made to depend on a reasonable 
degree of success in teaching or writing. 

2. The way in which the " Fellows " should use their 
time. This must be determined by the end sought, and 
the end sought will not be the same in every instance. 
One man may have such a predilection for the natural 
sciences as to make it evident that he should give them 
special attention. Another may have so great a love of 
the languages as to make it certain that he should give 
a large part of his time to philology. A third may be 
moved to the study of history by an impulse so deep and 
prophetic of his life-work as to indicate his chief duty 
for the time. A fourth may be drawn to theology, long- 
ing to explore its depths and heights, and this longing 
may point the way to the largest culture of mind and 
heart. For there is no great source of knowledge which 
does not mingle its waters at last with those from every 
other source. All the mighty streams of truth flow into 
the same ocean, even as they came originally from it. 
And therefore it is found that special studies may lead, 
in the end, to comprehensive knowledge. Hence, also, it 
is needless to propose any one curriculum for all who are 
aided by fellowships. 

But it should be distinctly understood that this post- 
graduate course is not to be one of general reading or of 



FELLOWSHIPS. 529 

learned leisure, but one of strenuous effort to obtain exact 
and profound knowledge. Nothing short of this should 
be accepted as satisfactory. And therefore every one 
who draws his support from a fellowship should be ex- 
pected to avail himself of counsel and instruction from 
the faculty, or some part of the faculty, with which he is 
connected. Should it be urged as an objection to this 
that neither our colleges nor our theological seminaries 
are furnished with officers who have learning and time 
for the service implied by this remark, we beg leave to 
meet the objection by denying the fact asserted. It is a 
mistake to suppose that the ablest teachers in our chief 
seats of learning could not with ease render all necessary 
assistance ; for example, by directing students to the sources 
of knowledge, by clearing up dark or difficult points, by 
criticising results and processes of investigation, and by a 
weekly review and scrutiny of the work performed. Not 
a few of these officers would deem it a privilege to do 
all this for any young man of approved character and ca- 
pacity, rinding an ample reward for their labor in the spir- 
itual refreshment which it would bring. And if any socii 
should wish to pursue the same study in the same school, 
they could have the benefit of more frequent instruction. 
Moreover, the circumstance that we have as yet no proper 
university, our professional faculties being often locally 
separate from those of general culture, ought not to 
hinder the success of the measure proposed ; for it will 
be natural for the young men to pass from one seminary 
or college to another, giving a year, perhaps, to each, and 
thus, in the end, coming into contact with the ablest 
minds we have. 

Then in addition to the best advantages for study at 
home, we would also have them reap the benefits of study 

34 



530 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

abroad. The schools of Germany and France should be 
visited by them for the purpose of meeting the eminent 
teachers of the European continent, and especially for the 
purpose of becoming familiar with the French and Ger- 
man languages ; for a good knowledge of these languages, 
making it a constant pleasure to read them, is almost in- 
dispensable to the scholar of to-day. The time, however. 
is drawing near, if it has not already come, when the 
German tongue may be learned as well in our own as in 
the fatherland. 

It will be noted that we do not assign any place to 
the study of science, philosophy, or theology abroad. Our 
reason is this : unless a few branches of science be ex- 
cepted, we believe they can be studied quite as profitably 
at home ; and we owe it to our schools, founded at great 
cost, to do all we can for their honor and support. During 
a long time to come there will be reasons enough for 
travel and study in the Old World, even if such travel 
and study are rated at no more than their true value ; but 
we do not think they should fill a large part of the time 
which the young men in question can add to their regular 
course of study. 

And this brings us to the next point, namely : — 
3. The period during which the "Fellows" should be 
supported. If the age at which our best students finish 
their course in theology be from twenty-six to twenty-eight 
years on an average, it will be unsafe to ask them to add 
more than five years to their student life ; and if the 
attainments requisite at the present time to qualify any 
one for a prominent place in teaching be fairly considered, 
it will appear unwise to add less than five years to that 
life. We have, therefore, with almost no statistical data 
to guide us, fixed upon this as the maximum period, pre- 



FELLOWSHIPS. 531 

suming that in some instances men would be called into 
active service before its close. 

It remains for us to say a word concerning — 
4. The amount which should be provided for each " Fel- 
low " yearly. Believing that it is far better, in view of the 
object sought, to give a few really able young men the 
benefit of an extra course than to give it to a larger num- 
ber of less ability, we would place the standard of quali- 
fications high, and make the provision for support liberal, 
at least as compared with what is given to under-graduates. 
Ten thousand dollars may be safely fixed upon as the 
basis of a fellowship. The interest of this, five or six 
hundred dollars yearly, would be sufficient to meet all 
necessary expenses. 

If, now, the measure advocated in this paper is a good 
one, it should receive the prompt attention of those who 
wish to further the cause of truth. Learning is not grace, 
scholarship is not godliness ; but learning may be made 
the handmaid of piety, and true scholarship may be joined 
with faith. The vain boast of ungodly men, that they 
are the only fearless disciples of truth, and the pernicious 
doubt whether this be not so, which has been infused into 
the hearts of timid believers by the strange assurance of 
pantheists, should be met and neutralized by the educa- 
tion of Christian men. The people of God are neither so 
few nor weak as to justify them in leaving any great 
source of knowledge in the exclusive possession of his foes. 
It is their duty to rejoice in the progress of science, even 
as they do, and to contribute their full proportion of men 
and means to hold the high places of learning. We do 
not charge them with any great delinquencies in the past, 
though we fear that our own denomination has done less 



532 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

than it ought ; but we see reasons for greater zeal in the 
future. And we believe the time has come when provi- 
sion should be made, in connection with several of our 
leading schools, for extra culture on the part of a few 
young men. 



A GOOD CHURCH HISTORY. 1 

HERETOFORE the officers of this institution have 
been wont, when elected, to enter upon the perform- 
ance of their duties without the formality of a public 
address. In deviating from this course, sanctioned by 
usage and altogether congenial to my feelings, I act in 
deference to the opinion of others, and from a conviction 
that the department of Christian study to which I am 
called has not been fully and generally appreciated by us. 
Veneration, by no means too high or sincere, for the Scrip- 
tures and the Apostolic Church has led us, it may be 
feared, to undervalue and in some measure to neglect the 
record of what Christianity has wrought in the world 
during the lapse of these eighteen centuries. My dis- 
course will therefore be expected to treat of this great 
record ; and the particular points which I propose to dis- 
cuss are the character and xalv.e of a good history of our 
holy religion, from the death of Paul to the present time. 
For thus may be indicated with least obtrusiveness the 
aim and the importance of instruction in the department 
entrusted to my care. 

And as to the character of such a history, it may be 
said in general that it must give a trustworthy account of 
the progress and influence of Christianity among men. 

1 An Inaugural Address to the Trustees and Friends of the Newton 
Theological Institution, June 28, 1854. 



534 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

It must reproduce before the mind those scenes of trial, 
conflict, and victory, by which, in defiance of all enemies, 
the truth has been preserved and "the household of 
faith " continued from age to age ; by which the friends 
of Christ have been made pure and strong and joyful in 
the midst of restless foes and seductive temptations. It 
must recall and re-enact, by the power of graphic lan- 
guage, the successive campaigns of this grand warfare, 
and bring to light the Christian forces which have been 
most efficient when set against " principalities and powers 
and spiritual wickedness in high places." It must extract 
from the dead languages of the faded manuscript, from 
the rusty coin and the huge mediaeval folio, words of 
energy and light, to animate the drooping and inspire the 
studious mind. It must break the crust which has hard- 
ened over those old fountains of knowledge, and let the 
waters of truth gush out in various and refreshing streams. 
It must also guide those liberated currents into appro- 
priate channels, as the Egyptian gardener, with skilful 
hand, turns the obedient rivulets whithersoever he will 
to water his thirsty plants. In other words, it must draw 
from the original sources of knowledge respecting the 
Church, in each separate period of her history, suitable 
and interesting facts, and then, grouping them together 
with the eye of genius, form a series of truthful portraits, 
giving at once the permanent and the varying features of 
this Church. 

To be more specific, we believe that such a history 
must be extracted substantially from original documents. 
Though not in words, it must be in thought and spirit 
a transcript from the testimony of first witnesses, and 
make the same impression, weariness excepted, upon 
a discerning mind which would have been made by the 



CHUECH HISTORY. 535 

perusal of their testimony in full. For history does 
not move in the domain of fiction, but in that of fact. 
It has to do with actual events, with the endurances and 
achievements and opinions of a real, not a Utopian, 
commonwealth. It should be, no doubt, a sublime epic 
reciting the deeds of Immanuel with his host, and doing 
far more than Milton's " great argument " to 

" assert Eternal Providence, 
And justify the ways of God to men." 

It is called to celebrate feats of moral heroism nobler 
than imagination ever feigned, and to recount events 
ordained of God for the accomplishment of his high 
designs. But it must cling to the truth. It must intro- 
duce no phantom upon the battlefields of this holy war- 
fare, no shadowy form to mingle with earnest combatants 
in the army of Christ. It must be careful not to make 
the oracle of divine Providence either ambiguous or false, 
not to "extenuate, or set down aught in malice." Pro- 
fessing; to let the voices of the Past be heard afresh, and 
pour their wisdom into the hearts of living men, it may 
err as fatally by the omission of that which is important 
as by the fabrication of that which never occurred. .But 
no analysis or summary or report of testimony can be so 
reliable as the unabridged testimony itself. For a slight 
error, admitted through prejudice or oversight by an 
investigator of the original evidence, is liable to increase 
in magnitude and assurance when repeated by another : 
Mobilitate viget, viresque aquirit eundo. The second 
reporter is not checked by those countervailing facts 
which tempered the language of the first, and rendered 
it impossible for him to deviate unconsciously so far from 
the truth. Accordingly, whatever labor it may cost, a 



536 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

good history of the Church must be founded, like the 
verdict of an enlightened jury, upon the earliest and 
most direct evidence. Otherwise, moreover, it will be 
deficient in clearness, precision, and vivacity of style. It 
may indeed display these excellences, though resting 
upon derived testimony, but only at the sacrifice of trust- 
worthiness, — a far more essential quality. For if merely 
such facts are admitted as are considered authentic, and 
are reported alike by a large majority of those who have 
examined the primitive sources, the narrative will seem 
cold and bald and unattractive. ]STo reader will be 
greatly interested. The scenes of other days will not 
rise up before his mind; the moral atmosphere of the 
past will not surround or enter his spirit. He will 
traverse a barren waste, with but here and there a pile of 
whitened bones or a solitary mound to attract his atten- 
tion. If, on the other hand, that which is omitted, or 
called in question, or variously stated, by investigators 
of the original documents, be freely received, the work 
becomes thereby unworthy of confidence. However at- 
tractive, it forfeits the character of reliable history, and 
assumes that of mingled fiction and fact. 

Without pausing to justify this proposition by further 
argument, we add, in the second place, that a correct 
view of Christianity itself must underlie and pervade 
every good history of the Church. This normal idea will 
give unity, coherence, meaning, and interest to details 
otherwise impertinent and wearisome. It will effectually 
prevent the intrusion of thoughts or facts alien to the 
subject, and like the force of attraction will seize and 
hold with the strongest grasp that which possesses the 
greatest affinity to it. Wisely to choose his materials 
constitutes half the merit of an able historian. Even 



CHURCH HISTORY. 537 

where all the facts spread out before his mind appear 
self-consistent and reliable, a selection must be made ; 
many must be examined, but few admitted. 

It was unnecessary for the Evangelists to put on 
record all the words of Christ in order to give us a true 
conception of his spirit and work. The immense labor 
of preparing so minute and exhaustive an account would 
have been worse than lost. For if by the special provi- 
dence of God the endless narrative had been saved from 
destruction, few persons would have been able to obtain 
or peruse it, and still fewer would have made any con- 
siderable use of more than a fraction of its contents. 
Hence the wisdom of God is manifest in the brevity 
of the Gospels, even without urging the presumption that 
a fuller record would have merely re-enforced, in other 
language addressed to other hearers, the same funda- 
mental truths which we now have. 

But if the Evangelists were compelled to omit a large 
part of our Saviour's words (every one of which they 
esteemed an oracle from heaven), lest their narrations 
should be unduly protracted, it is quite certain that a 
still larger proportion of existing materials must be 
rejected by an historian of the Church. For the facts 
here craving attention are beyond comparison more nu- 
merous and of less intrinsic value. Every earnest histo- 
rian, therefore, remitted to his own judgment or taste in 
the choice of all the minor events to be noticed, will be 
guided in this delicate part of his work mainly by the 
idea which he has formed of Christianity in its normal 
state. This idea will also organize his chosen materials, 
placing one historical personage in the foreground and 
another in the background, letting a beam of light fall 
upon this occurrence and a dim shadow upon that, 



538 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

sketching with patient love the features of an approved 
doctrine, but giving in sharp outline the skeleton of a 
creed which he firmly believes to be unchristian and 
pernicious. Meanwhile the writer knows himself to be 
upright and believes himself to be impartial. His sole 
purpose and effort are to represent the Church of Christ 
in all the stages of its growth and activity. Provided, 
then, he understands the nature of that Church, and is 
able to distinguish it readily from every counterfeit, all 
is well. But an error at this point vitiates the whole 
performance ; a misconception in regard to the real 
characteristics or constitutive elements of that kingdom 
whose history he professes to relate, must greatly mar 
the excellence of his work. 

A genuine Eomanist, who believes the invisible Church 
on earth is all contained within the visible, and who 
excludes from the latter those of every name who do not 
submit to the Pope and recognize his primacy in spiritual 
concerns, can hardly with a good conscience notice Prot- 
estants of any age, save in the language of anathema. 
A fatal prejudgment separates them, as by a wall of ice, 
from his sympathy ; denies them, with the sternness 
of an infallible decision, any place or part among the 
faithful, and requires him to pass them by in silence on 
the other side, or call attention with the finger of warn- 
ing and accents of horror to their sad apostasy. 

But, on the other hand, whoever believes that Chris- 
tianity is pre-eminently spiritual and internal, — a divine 
life and power transforming the individual soul, and 
dependent for its birth and growth upon no particular 
ritual or sacrament, or human priesthood ; whoever be- 
lieves, with Neander, that this new creation within may 
reveal itself with equal clearness through many and 



CHURCH HISTORY. 539 

diverse organizations adapted to the wants of each period 
and people, will produce a far other and more compre- 
hensive history of the Church. He will find true wisdom 
in the cavern and white-robed innocence in the dungeon, 
springs of water in the desert and flowers of piety on the 
Alpine summit. The stroke of his pen, like the touch 
of Ithuriel's spear, will change many a heretic into a 
martyr, and many a caricature into a likeness ; will re- 
store multitudes to their proper size and station in the 
religious world, and give to living faith and love the 
place which is often assumed by empty form and dis- 
guised hypocrisy. 

Still, another historian may be convinced that Chris- 
tianity is first personal, and then organic, — first a new 
life in the individual soul, and then a representation 
of that life in fellowship with others ; that it neither 
descends by inheritance, like an heir-loom, from gener- 
ation to generation, nor is conveyed as balm into the 
heart by holy offices and solemn rites ; that it must rather 
be traced directly to the spirit of God and the word of 
truth, and hence may exist notwithstanding many changes 
in the polity and ritual of the Church as planted by the 
apostles ; and yet with equal firmness may believe that 
our Saviour cared for the order of his house, and in due 
time, by the agency of inspired men, formed the primi- 
tive converts of each city or district into a model family ; 
that every departure from this original and fraternal 
organization of believers is dangerous to piety, and every 
attempt to improve it rash and seditious, like an attempt 
to improve the Word of God, — tending either to secular- 
ize or to paganize the religion of Christ ; he may believe 
that the whole process of boasted development in the 
constitution of the Church, since the first age, has been 



540 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

revolutionary and injurious, and all her sacramental and 
liturgical growth imaginary — like modern advances upon 
the personal excellence of Christ — or unnatural, obliter- 
ating more and more those characteristics of true religion 
which were adduced by Tertullian as manifestly divine ; 
namely, the remarkable simplicity of its rites and the 
inexpressible grandeur of its effects. Now to the eye of 
such an author, that stream of living water issuing " from 
the fountain opened in Judah " must appear to separate 
at length, like the river of Eden, and flow on in many 
divergent channels, — one of them sweeping heavily down 
through the valley, and receiving from either hand a 
multitude of turbid affluents to swell its volume and 
vitiate its purity and destroy its healing virtue, while 
others, winding their way along the hill-sides, amid rocks 
and trees, retain their sweetness, and sparkle with trans- 
parent life under every little patch of sky and every 
beam of historic light to which they are exposed. Such 
an historian would gladly lift the veil, whether of silence 
or slander, from all of every name who in their day 
"fought a good fight and kept the faith." He would 
commemorate with peculiar satisfaction the deeds of those 
who braved death rather than swerve from the truth. 
And by a proper arrangement he would suffer the events 
of history to utter their emphatic protest against any 
deviation, however slight, from apostolic doctrine or prac- 
tice. Oftentimes have these events failed to do this, 
simply because writers, in the course of their narrative, 
have given to them the color of their own false opinions, 
just as rocks are said to impart their color to the clinging 
polypus. 

The instances now alleged show how greatly his own 
idea of Christianity must control an historian in the choice 



CHURCH HISTORY. 541 

and use of his materials, and establish our proposition 
that a correct view of the Church as to its chief elements 
must underlie every good history of it. The warmth of 
honest zeal can be no substitute for this view, for zeal, 
however sincere, if not according to knowledge, may but 
clothe the form of error in robes of brighter hue, and 
twist the face of truth awry with a more steady and re- 
lentless hand ; it may call evil good, and good evil, with 
the strong emphasis of real conviction, and this con- 
viction is a thing so fair and noble in itself as to hide, 
perchance, the ugliness of deformity and make the worse 
appear the better reason. Nor can the cold equity arro- 
gated to themselves by such as profess to study and write 
without the bias of any foregone conclusion as to the 
nature of Christianity prove a better substitute for this 
view. To keep one's mind in perfect suspense touching 
so great a matter is clearly impossible ; but were it not, 
— were this ignorant equipoise of judgment, resting on 
a sublime indifference to all which speaks of God and 
eternity, actually maintained by an ecclesiastical histo- 
rian, — how then could he distinguish the genuine from 
the spurious ? How could he discover and honor the true 
ship of the Church amid fleets of piratical craft sailing 
under her colors ? 

But whence shall a right conception of the Church be 
obtained ? From the New Testament, and from that 
alone. If, then, as we humbly venture to believe, Chris- 
tians of our denomination have turned to this san for 
light, and have received substantially correct impressions 
respecting the faith and order of God's house, they pos- 
sess at least one qualification for the profitable study and 
truthful delineation of its history. 

And further special prominence must be given in such 



542 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

a history to questions which still agitate the Church. It 
must be penetrated throughout by spiritual earnestness, 
and seek to elucidate the real problems of religion and 
life. For these are of permanent and transcendent 
interest. They embrace everything of supreme impor- 
tance to the soul. Having claimed the deepest thought 
of spiritual men from the first, by their weight or mys- 
tery, they articulate and conjoin the past with the present, 
and exhibit the most absorbing religious investigations of 
each successive period in the Church as belonging to the 
identical web of Christian life or discipline which men of 
God are now weaving. They are the strong, benignant 
angels, with whom, by the wise providence of God, the 
faithful have ever been called anew to wrestle. Hence 
they must occupy a conspicuous place in every well- 
executed history of our religion. 

Whatever benefit may accrue to science, philosophy, 
and literature, from the prevalence of Christianity, its 
primary mission is to the moral nature of man. Its chief 
purpose and work are to deliver the soul from guilt, and 
crown it with eternal life. It may, indeed, have taken 
heavy chains from the intellect, and strengthened it for 
flight into higher realms of scientific investigation ; it 
may have irradiated large spaces of the soul, which were 
dark as midnight before, and brought to view sources 
of good or evil, for which mental explorers had groped 
in vain ; it may have established the only perfect law 
of beneficence, and suggested to philanthropy her best 
modes of action ; it may have invigorated the reason, 
raised the imagination, and refined the tastes of authors, 
thus enlarging the channels and purifying the waters 
of literature ; and all this may deserve brief notice 
and delineation in a history of Christianity ; an account 



CHURCH HISTORY. 543 

of all this may be infused into the pores of the body 
of the work, adding to its value, without augmenting 
its bulk, but the principal object for which the Word 
was made flesh, and suffered upon Calvary, and the 
principal office assigned to his gospel and his kingdom, 
were unquestionably to fulfil the counsel of Infinite Love, 
that whosoever believeth might not perish, but have 
everlasting life." 

And from the days of Paul until now, the true servants 
of God have recognized this peculiarity of the gospel, 
have thought more of its saving than of its civilizing 
power, have rather been anxious to ascertain the moral 
attitude of man towards his Maker, and the appointed 
means of reconciliation, than to learn the effect which 
their religion has upon the temporal interests of society. 
They have acknowledged no doctrines of theology or 
polity to be cardinal, except those which go to answer 
that tremendous question, "What shall we do to be 
saved?" And therefore must these doctrines, traceable 
in every age of the Church, be employed as the unbroken 
and continuous warp of her history. For the language 
of the wise man is ever true : " As in water face answer- 
eth to face, so the heart of man to man." Through all 
time the general make and strength of human spirits 
abide unchanged. In the search after truth much the 
same path is trodden by the mind of father and son. 
" The thing that hath been is the thing that shall be." 
Theologians of to-day are working the old veins of 
thought, and but casting into fresher and more approved 
forms gold, or silver, or brass, taken from mines opened 
long ago by the primitive explorer. 

Nor do we by this language depreciate the labors of 
any. Even Christ himself chose for the most part to 



544 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

reassert known principles of virtue. His moral precepts 
had been nearly all anticipated. Whether this pre- 
announcement of them, to a considerable extent, by 
heathen sages, was owing to somewhat religious in the 
structure of man's soul, causing it to light upon them in 
its lucid moments, or to a touch of inspiration, a breath 
from the Spirit, granted in mercy to thoughtful, earnest 
pagans, or, as we imagine, to some dim tradition and 
echo of early messages from God, may be doubtful ; but 
of their presence, here and there, in the masses of classi- 
cal literature, like solitary kernels of wheat in huge 
mountains of chaff, there can be no doubt. And the 
Messiah's chief work as an ethical teacher was to unite 
the dissevered members of truth into a living body, to 
present, in a compact, homogeneous system, those ex- 
pressions of the divine law of right and benevolence 
which had before existed only in a fragmentary state, 
remote from each other, and almost lost under the rub- 
bish of human speculation. 

But if Christ was content to reassert old principles, 
because they were true and supremely important, it can- 
not be thought strange that Christians do the same ; it 
cannot be deemed surprising that nearly all the mighty 
thinkers and doers in the Church, nearly all believers 
characterized by downright honesty of purpose and ener- 
gy of action, have been irresistibly drawn to a few cen- 
tral, cardinal doctrines of the faith, and that a record of 
their struggles from age to age, while endeavoring to 
appropriate more fully, and use more efficiently these 
great powers, may constitute the best and vital part of a 
good history. 

As doctrines of this class, may be specified those which 
pertain to the nature of God's law, the moral state of our 



CHURCH HISTORY. 545 

race, the person and work of Christ, and the way to 
holiness in him, to the examination of which serious 
men have ever been attracted by their infinite weight. 
From the beginning, genuine Christians have wished to 
know and defend the truth in relation to these matters ; 
and so, too, have the foes of Christ striven with des- 
perate rivalry to pervert or bedim this truth. In every 
adequate record, therefore, of what Christianity has been 
and has done, these principles must continually appear. 
The earnestness and vigor with which men have often 
met around them in spiritual conflict, must animate the 
narrative, and make it wellnigh tremble with emotion, 
as air trembles under the glowing sunbeam. 

Yet it is by no means enough thus to recognize topics 
of enduring interest, and give them large space in the 
account. They must also be treated with discrimination. 
Studious attention must be paid to the relative impor- 
tance of each for the several periods of history. For in 
every distinct era of her existence has the Church been 
compelled to undertake some leading urgent task. By 
a wise foresight and arrangement of God the vital prob- 
lems of Christian doctrine have come up in turn for 
investigation, as the humanity of Christ in one age, and 
his divinity in another; now the moral constitution of 
man, and then the nature of the atonement ; here the use 
of ordinances, and there the potency of faith ; and thus 
every period has had its own high lesson to teach, and 
its own deep impression to make. A failure to compre- 
hend these characteristic lessons, and to imprint them on 
the pages of his book, must be fatal to the success of any 
historian. 

Still more fatal, however, must be the error of intro- 
ducing, to any great extent, that which belongs exclu- 

35 



546 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

sively to the past, and has no representative or counter- 
part in the land of the living. Questions which long 
ago lost their hold on the general mind merit only a 
rapid survey. Gratifying a mere antiquarian curiosity 
in religion, they pertain rather to the history of mental 
science than to that of Christianity. We must look upon 
many speculations of the early Church as we look upon 
the fossil remains of extinct races in the animal kingdom. 
They lie before us cold and motionless, the relics of an 
age and condition of the spiritual world which have 
passed away, never more to return. Several opinions 
vigorously advocated by scholastic writers in the middle 
ages now exist merely as rigid petrifactions, which no 
eloquence of speech can resuscitate. They were shoots 
from the philosophic willow grafted into the Christian 
vine ; and while the vine still remains deeply rooted 
and perennial, those adventitious shoots have nourished 
into sterile branches, and been cut off forever. And so 
the historian can give them no conspicuous place in his 
work. He must leave them to rest undisturbed, or else 
must insert them. in whatever crevices lie between his 
larger and better materials, just as the skilful stone-layer 
drops many a bit and fragment into the chinks of his 
rising wall. Nor will such treatment necessarily deprive 
the reader of some adequate knowledge of their peculiar- 
ities. For the language of Irenaeus is still a proverb : 
Non oportet universum ebibere mare eum qui velit discere 
quod aqua ejus salsa est. " One need not drink the 
whole ocean to learn that its waters are salt." 

We may close this part of our subject by remarking 
that excellence of style must also characterize a good 
history of the Church. It must not merely contain the 
truth, but display it. Events must neither be hidden by 



CHURCH HISTORY. 547 

cumbrous phraseology, nor outshone by splendor of dic- 
tion. A glimpse of them will not attract or satisfy ; 
they must be made to stand forth full, and clear, and 
lifelike. Words in this case should serve, not to inter- 
cept one's vision of great transactions, but to clothe them 
instead as with a robe of "filmy gauze," and solicit a 
reader's eye to look upon the reality again. He may 
then be made to follow with intense sympathy the church 
militant, and in spirit " fight all her battles o'er again." 
If history be thus written, if the facts are wisely cho- 
sen, grouped, and set in strong, terse, graphic language, 
no species of human composition can be more interest- 
ing or instructive. Loquitur in stilo . . . litter a omni 
ore, vocalior. 1 " The author's pen will speak, and his 
written word be more effective than any eloquence of 
tongue." 

Provided my attempt to describe a good history of the 
Church has been at all successful, we are now prepared 
to consider the value of such a history. And the pre- 
sumption is altogether in its favor. For " God is in 
history," and especially in the history of his people. 
His presence is their " cloud by day and pillar of fire 
by night." His favor is their life, and his benediction 
their pledge of victory. The story of their achievements 
is the record of what God has wrought. And next to the 
infallible Word, this record brings us nearest the Holy 
One, and points out most distinctly his way among men. 

It shows, in the first place, that God has done great 
things for the world by our holy religion. Whoever 
would appreciate the Church of Christ as a factor in the 
history of mankind, let him obtain at the outset correct 
views of the world when this factor was introduced. Let 

1 Tertullian. 



548 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

him go back in spirit to the age of Tiberius Caesar, and 
look into the houses and palaces, the schools and courts 
of justice, the temples and theatres, the camps and pris- 
ons of a people, who did "not like to retain God in 
their knowledge," and were therefore "given over to a 
reprobate mind." Let him hear the deep wail of Tacitus 
over the degeneracy of Eome, and listen to the awful 
confession of Seneca respecting the vices of his time ; 
let him study the satires of Juvenal, and ponder the 
words of Ovid, Suetonius, and Dion, so illustrative of a 
sinking world. Let him examine in detail the writings 
of that period, till he feels in his deepest soul the utter 
impotence of philosophy and science and art to save men 
from the vilest passions and the lowest infamy. For we 
must know the original depth as well as the present 
height of an object, in order to measure the distance 
which it has passed over in the ascent. And hence, to 
see the ripe fruit of paganism, her sages drifting away 
on a sea of doubt ; her moralists feeling in blind despe- 
ration after the pillars of right ; her temples polluted by 
nameless and multiplied crimes ; her princes reckless, 
and her populace abject ; her simplicity and earnestness 
and manhood clean gone forever ; and then to look 
upon Israel, old and peevish ; her gold dim and her 
sceptre departed ; her sanctuary a den of thieves, and her 
teachers blind ; her law buried under the rubbish of tra- 
dition, and her charity more contracted than her bounda- 
ries ; to see that " darkness covered the earth and gross 
darkness the people," and to hear ever and anon voices of 
despair publishing the woe, this, alas ! must be the in- 
troduction to his study. The earth was then a broad 
plain, on which rested a cold, dark mist. Scarce a hill- 
top pierced this veil of fog and gloom to the sunlight 



CHURCH HISTORY. 549 

above. Scarce a solitary pilgrim could be discovered here 
and there climbing upward to catch a gleam of the cheer- 
ful day. 

But now, in man's extremest need, the Word was made 
flesh ; he " who was the brightness of the Father's glory 
and the express image of His person," took the form of 
a servant, and walked lowly and gently among men. His 
feet were upon earth, but his head was above the mist 
and above the cloud, radiant with the glory of heaven. 
All spiritual wisdom was concentrated in him, and super- 
stition fled before his luminous teaching. He knew all 
the tones and semitones of the scale of truth, and all the 
divine harmonies ever to be evolved from them. He could 
touch at once every string of the golden harp of wisdom, 
and elicit gushing strains of melody and life. Yet mind- 
ful of human weakness, he but linked together in a few 
simple airs of " majestic sweetness " the fundamental 
chords of holy science, and reserved the more intricate 
and difficult combinations for another world. 

A little company of disciples were drawn to his feet, 
listened to his sacred voice, opened their eyes to his 
divine effulgence, and sprang upward from darkness to 
day. And at length, after the Master had ascended on 
high, and the Holy Spirit had come down to inspire their 
minds with supernatural insight and prevailing faith, 
they were qualified to plant and train the Church of 
Christ, and were enabled to put on record for later gen- 
erations all necessary truth. At their departure inspira- 
tion ceased. The well of salvation was large, deep, full ; 
and men were henceforth invited to draw and be re- 
freshed. The facts or elements of Christian truth were 
given for all time. 

But only an infinite mind could fully comprehend these 



550 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

elements. They were, however, to be used by men faith- 
ful indeed, but not profound, by men nurtured in the 
midst of paganism, and breathing its tainted atmosphere, 
accustomed to moral twilight, and half bound by false 
philosophies. And so the Word of God was imperfectly 
understood, — the line of investigation floating awhile on 
the surface of truth. Many errors crept into the Church 
through the gate of bad interpretation. A nimble, un- 
tamed fancy, which exulted in allegory, parable, and par- 
adox, was suffered to explain the Bible according to its 
own license in the use of speech. Whole cosmogonies 
from the East were bound, like the burden of Bunyan's 
pilgrim, to a few passages of Scripture, and thus brought 
within the fold. Eegeneration was at length taken to 
be a mere opus operatum, a change effected by the virtue 
of baptismal waters. The clergy in certain places became 
powerful, and began to say each to his brother, " Stand 
by thyself, for I am holier than thou." They grew more 
tenacious of authority and less watchful for souls. Mean- 
while kings undertook to patronize the faith which they 
once strove to quench in blood. They waxed zealous for 
their own several orthodoxy. They set up one and cast 
down another in the visible Church. They took part in 
general councils, and facilitated the settlement of theo- 
logical questions by promptly adding to the gravity of 
argument the weight of a drawn sword. Pagan temples, 
and shrines, and festivals, and rites, were now consecrated 
afresh, and solemnly appropriated for holy use by a secu- 
larized Christianity. Eome subdued her conquerors ! 

But let us not be too fast. There were seven lamps 
on the golden candlestick, and we may have watched 
but one of them. The eclipse of nominal Christianity 
may yet be merely annular. There may be a rim of 



CHURCH HISTORY. 551 

light still clear and warm, upon the outer circle of the 
orb, a " silver margin to the cloud " which has grown so 
black. And it is even so. Christ did not suffer his 
word to fail. There were many then living and toil- 
ing, of whom the world was not worthy. There were 
communities little observed by the great and wise, who 
nevertheless kept the faith. There were unpretending 
believers, cast out as evil and laden with curses by the 
dominant hierarchy, who never ceased to make cave, glen, 
and mountain height vocal with praise to God. And 
these were the true succession. By meekness, endurance, 
and charity, by the " work of faith and labor of love and 
patience of hope," they verified their priestly lineage 
and calling. With an open Bible and a new heart, they 
refused to amalgamate with paganism, even when their 
refusal entailed the loss of all things, the giving of their 
bodies to be burned and of their memory to reproach. 

But these were not all. Some in the papal church 
turned with fainting spirit to the Word of God, and 
drank long and deep of its crystal waters. Refreshed 
and invigorated, they began to labor also for others. 
Whole sections of the Church wavered in attachment 
to the see of Borne, and were hardly retained in her 
orbit bv sword and fa^ot. Men of strong intellect, 
liberal culture, and genuine faith, like Augustine and 
Pascal, took up the massive links of truth given by 
inspiration, and welded them into mighty chains, bind- 
ing the soul to free grace for salvation, and breaking- 
down by their ponderous weight the arrogance of hu- 
man pride and self-sufficiency. As the work went on, 
better principles of interpretation were adopted, refor- 
mation came, preaching was resumed, Bibles were mul- 
tiplied, and now truth is entering into actual and earnest 



552 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

conflict with systems of error all over the world. And 
this truth is the great iconoclastic hammer of God 
Almighty, falling evermore, stroke after stroke, with 
increasing frequency and force, upon the stony head 
of idolatry, — a head terribly jarred and splintered 
already, which that hammer shall at length beat in 
pieces and crush to dust and destroy utterly, that 
Christ may "reign from sea to sea, and from the river 
to the ends of the earth." 

And by comparing the world of to-day with the world 
at Christ's advent, it will appear that God has done 
marvellous things for it by our holy religion. Homes 
and schools, prisons and asylums, churches and benevo- 
lent associations, all bear witness to a vast increase of 
knowledge and a partial renovation of society. An his- 
torical survey of the true Church will show that her 
members have been all along a brotherhood of spiritual 
noblemen, the best blood of our race, rejoicing in the 
hope of eternal life, and contending manfully for the 
faith once delivered to the saints. 

And if, after such a survey, religion should still seem 
to have made slow advances, and done very little for so 
long a period, let us remember that " one day is with 
the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as 
one day." He is often pleased to elaborate, by means 
of varied instruments and through slowly moving cen- 
turies, those works which are in a signal manner to 
show forth his power and benevolence. And he will 
never be straitened for time to carry fitly onward to its 
final issue the plan of mercy devised before the founda- 
tion of the world. Although we live in the "last days," 
we have nevertheless seen "only the beginning of the 
end." Christianity has gathered in merely the first sheaf 



CHURCH HISTORY. 553 

of her rich and glorious harvest. Enough, however, has 
been done to prove her divine parentage, and the pres- 
ence of God in her tents. Enough has been done to 
make her history, fairly written, the most instructive, 
admonitory, and encouraging volume, apart from the 
Bible, which men can be invited to read. 

Such a history possesses great value, in the second 
place, because it reveals the actual law of progress in 
Christianity. It is something to know that the cause of 
God has not been stationary since the close of the Apos- 
tolic era, that there has been a constant ebb or flow of 
tide in the spiritual world, a movement perpetual, and on 
the whole, progressive. It is something for a thoughtful 
Christian to find such words as " the righteous also shall 
hold on his way, and he that hath clean hands shall be 
stronger and stronger," applicable, not only to the indi- 
vidual believer, but to the entire body of Christ as well, 
and to rejoice in the simple fact of growth on the part of 
God's people in knowledge and virtue. But this is not 
enough. We feel it to be equally desirable to under- 
stand the law of spiritual action under which this grati- 
fying change has been effected ; we deem it equally 
important to discover the method adopted and the agen- 
cies employed by our Saviour for the advancement of his 
cause. Eor such knowledge will qualify us to enter into 
his plans, and co-operate in their fulfilment. 

Now, after the Bible, Church History is called to the 
office of furnishing this knowledge. It shows how inter- 
pretation, biblical theology, and Christian ethics, have 
come to be understood far better than in the second cen- 
tury ; how devout men of each successive generation have 
entered into the labors of their predecessors, resuming 
and carrying forward the investigation of God's unchang- 



554 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND KELIG10N. 

ing Word from the point where it had been left before ; 
and how every step in advance, taken by the faithful, is 
nevertheless a step in return to the primitive, divinely 
authorized belief and constitution of the Church, — the 
stream never flowing higher than its fountain head. 

For the Apostles, under the influence of a divine 
power, did not for the most part write or speak' mechani- 
cally, but intelligently, appreciating better than we are 
yet able to do the import of their own language, and its 
bearing in each case upon other doctrines of their Master ; 
and therefore it may be presumed that no essential prin- 
ciples of Christian truth or ecclesiastical polity were 
neglected by them in teaching the churches. The opin- 
ion that various types or schools of belief — as the 
Petrine, Pauline, Johannean — were established by the 
Apostles in the regions where they severally labored, and 
that in the best of these schools, or in some later sample 
of the Church, regarded as a mixture of them all, we are 
to look for the ultimate and maturest form of Chris- 
tianity, is neither authorized by the New Testament, nor 
supported by analogy, nor deducible by fair interpreta- 
tion from the events of history. It is unreasonable to 
presume that parties and strifes were sown in the heart 
of primitive Christianity by inspired teachers. God does 
not thus introduce division and weakness into his own 
household. It is also an error to suppose the first Chris- 
tians incompetent to receive the leading doctrines of our 
faith, or unwilling to discharge the practical duties of it. 
They were bold, earnest, self-denying, and ready to fol- 
low Christ through evil as well as good report. In every- 
thing which pertains to the constitution and government 
and ordinances of the Church, they were not a whit be- 
hind the very chiefest of their successors. 



CHURCH HISTORY. 555 

But in regard to the deeper truths of divine revelation 
and their manifold bearings upon each other and the 
spiritual life of mankind, the early Christians were but 
children. What the Apostles knew by virtue of a spe- 
cial gift must be evolved from their writings by ages 
of study. One after another, men of powerful intellect 
and great experience must be raised up to search the 
Scriptures, bring to light, arrange, and apply their pro- 
founder truths, and then pour them by the agency of 
voice or pen into the bosom of Christian society, there 
to spread and work, silently perhaps, but swiftly, from 
member to member, till the whole body feels their quick- 
ening energy and the Church springs forward in her 
course of light. By a repetition of this process, alike 
honorable to the Word of God and the dignity of regen- 
erated, individual man, as well as encouraging to personal 
effort and a sense of responsibility on the part of every 
disciple to his Master, has Christianity made all her 
progress in the world ; each succeeding laborer having 
the advantage of a higher starting-point than his prede- 
cessors, and of all the knowledge deposited by them in 
the common mind of Christendom, if not in books ; while 
yet nothing is accomplished without the working of in- 
telligent, sanctifying faith upon the heart, and the strenu- 
ous exertions of single-handed zeal for the truth. In 
the army of believers Christ expects " every man to do 
his duty." And whenever there has appeared in this 
army a true champion, wholly devoted to his King and 
cause, others have caught the spirit of Christian heroism, 
the standard of truth has been carried forward, and the 
Word has been fulfilled that " one should chase a thou- 
sand, and two put ten thousand to flight." 

Were there ample time for the purpose, it would be 



556 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

suitable for me, in the next place, to indicate the polem- 
ical value of such a history. It would be well to portray 
the severe struggles which now engage or presently await 
the friends of Christ. It would be proper to notice, for 
example, the startling theories of inspiration and Church 
development lately inaugurated, the fierce audacity of 
disbelief, screaming out its challenge and defiance, the 
servile prostration of credulity kissing the great toe of a 
spiritual autocrat and clamoring for the restoration of ex- 
pelled darkness, the weasel approaches of lithe Jesuitism, 
and the shameless polygamy of Latter Day Saints. And 
then it would be desirable to show how the providence 
of God, as explained by the story of his people, would 
teach us to encounter these foes of good, and how jet 
after jet of historic light, cast into the very centre of this 
dense, black cloud of impending evils, must reveal its 
nature and fortify us against its violence. For existing 
errors have their roots in the past. To understand their 
nature, we must trace their growth by the light of his- 
tory. They are old in spirit and substance, even if new 
in name and form. Atheistic and pantheistic philoso- 
phies are veteran enemies to the doctrine of Christ, and 
in the course of their long hostility have put on number- 
less disguises for the purpose of undermining the faith of 
some. Formalism, scepticism and mysticism, are types 
of error represented in every age, from the time of our 
Saviour until the present hour. False theories of in- 
spiration, subverting the Word of God, were broached 
before the days of Origen, and have vexed the faith of 
Christians until now. Scarcely had the second century 
closed, when the Montanists took their rise, professing to 
enjoy new revelations and to introduce the final reign of 
the Spirit. The heirs of their creed have reappeared 



CHURCH HISTORY. 557 

continually, and still nourish among us. And the same 
strain of remark would apply to a multitude of current 
errors. Indeed, whatever hostile views the Church is 
now called to meet and overcome are the result of con- 
flicts reaching back to the first ages of Christianity, and 
cannot be comprehended without knowing the history of 
our holy religion. For the citadel of truth has been 
often assailed, and by all imaginable foes. Her walls 
have been tried at every point and by every species of 
weapon, — by catapult and battering-ram, by haughty 
summons and treacherous ambuscade, by patient siege 
and desperate assault, by armies of Doubters and troops 
of Bloodymen ; while the tactics of unbelief have been 
varied till invention itself is weary, and every fresh strat- 
agem proves but the repetition of an ancient failure. 
Hence a faithful history of our religion, delineating her 
conflicts and her victories, will disclose the elements, 
whether of weakness or of strength, in those opinions 
which now check her prosperity, and will teach us how 
to withstand, confute, and destroy them. For in almost 
every system of belief there are certain doctrines which 
may be brought into vital connection with human nature 
as it is, certain points which have a sort of magnetic 
sympathy with corresponding forces in the soul, and 
which constitute the real power of their respective sys- 
tems. By directing attention to the rise and growth of 
religious opinions, Church History lays open to inspec- 
tion these central and attractive points, and thus indi- 
cates both where and how theories which are false and 
pernicious must be assailed, in order to effect their final 
overthrow. 

It would also be suitable for me further to show the 
value of such a history, as tending to foster a catholic, 



558 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

charitable spirit. Men of shining virtue have appeared 
in almost every division of nominal Christianity. How- 
ever erroneous and hurtful a creed may be in the main, 
it will generally embrace a few principles of truth, and 
one or more of these principles may preoccupy the hearts 
of a small number of individuals, working there nearly 
alone, and transforming the moral nature. Hence Chris- 
tian heroes have been associated with the worst perver- 
sions of our faith, and we are called to honor integrity of 
'conscience where we shudder at errors of belief. Espe- 
cially frequent are instances of this kind at the formation 
of a new sect. The founder himself is oftentimes a man 
of earnest character and purpose, but of narrow mind 
and erratic judgment. Dissatisfied with existing opin- 
ions as wrong or inert, and eager to accomplish suddenly 
the reformation of mankind, he gives himself up to some 
novel idea, without apprehending its deeper tendencies 
or foreseeing its necessary results, when made the nucleus 
of a logical system, developed by cooler heads and re- 
ceived by worse hearts than his own. Moreover, an 
infant society, struggling for existence in the face of 
opposition, and yet boldly announcing the grandest and 
most beneficent changes to be effected by its future ex- 
pansion, offers many attractions to enthusiastic, noble 
spirits. It appeals to every romantic sentiment and 
feeling of which they are capable or proud. It presents 
to them an open field for the exercise of chivalric gener- 
osity in defence of the weak, and makes them blind to 
imperfections which they would at once perceive in a 
different cause. History, therefore, in view of these and 
similar facts, teaches us to beware of the first and slight- 
est deviation from truth as infinitely perilous, and yet 
encourages us to look with charity upon some who wade 



CHURCH HISTORY. 559 

unconsciously into the shoreless sea of untruth, till its 
waves break over their heads. 

It would then be proper for me to insist upon the 
value of our supposed history, as contributing to breadth 
of mind and soundness of judgment upon religious ques- 
tions in those who should peruse it. It would be well 
to show that this work would give to its readers a large 
prospect and view, including the whole of Christendom 
from the Apostolic age to the present time ; that it 
would place them on the mountain-top for observation, 
and enable them to behold at a glance the main streams 
of nominal Christianity throughout their entire course, 
to perceive their principal windings and the direction 
in which on the whole they have moved, and to ascertain 
with certainty the precise points to which they are 
severally tending. Such a survey is the best safeguard 
against those rash conclusions which men are liable to 
make from current events, mistaking not unfrequently 
the feverish and fitful energy of a dying cause for the 
vigorous action of health. 

And, lastly, it would be interesting to take note of the 
spiritual bearing and worth of this history. It would be 
in place to exhibit the influence of recorded example, 
the power which good men are known to wield after 
death, by the transmitted story of their faithfulness. 
For a true history of the Church will abound in the facts 
of Christian experience. It will often reveal the inward 
discipline which leads on to holiness. It will lay open 
the heart of more than one disciple to our inspection, and 
depict the fiery seas of trial through which men like 
Augustine, Luther, and Bunyan passed to the haven of 
rest. It will testify of the new birth, of overcoming 
faith, and of holy enterprise, and will beckon us to follow 



560 STUDIES IN ETHICS AND RELIGION. 

the radiant pathway of those, in every generation, who 
"washed their robes and made them white in the blood 
of the Lamb." 

But my discourse must be arrested midway, to relieve 
your patience. This rapid glance at long trains of cumu- 
lative argument must suffice. And may He in whom 
there is light and no darkness at all, dwell in our hearts, 
and lead us to a better knowledge of himself by the 
word of revelation and by the history of his people. 



IXDEX OF SCRIPTURE TEXTS. 



Gexesis. 
i. 1 . . 
i. W ■ 
i. 27 . 
v. 24 . 
vi. 18 . 
viii. 10 
viii. 15 
viii. 21 . 
ix. 8 . 
ix. 25 . 
xii. 1-7 
xiii. 14-17 
xv. 1-18 
xv. 6 . 
xvii. 1-21 
xviii. 13, 14 
xix. 13-16 
xx. 3 . . 
xx. 6 . . 
xx. 7 . . 
xxi. 12, 13 
xxii. 1, 2, 
16-18 . 
xxv. 1 . . 
xxvi. 24 . 
xxviii. 12-15 
xxxi. 12, 13 
xxxi. 24 . 
xxxi. 24, 29 
xxxvii. 5, 9, 10 
xxxvii. 6, 7, 9, 
xl. 9, 16 . . 
xli. 1-7, 25 . 
xli. 15, 25 
xlvi. 3, 4 o . 



11. 



Exodus 



ii. 15, 16 . 

iii. 11, 13 . 

iv. 1, 10, V: 

iv. 1-9 . . 

iv. 14-16 . 

vii. 1 . . 

vii. 1, 2 . 

xii. 46 . . 

xx. 8. 10 . 



32 



11 



12 



10 



Page 

59 
294 

59 
130 
130 
295 
130 

97 
130 
130 
130 
130 
130 
228 
130 
130 
132 
128 
155 
', 130 
130 

130 
133 

155 
155 | 
155 \ 

128 

155 

128 

155 

155 

155 ! 

128 

155 



133 
131 
131 
121 
120 
117 
120 
177 
96 



128. 



xx. 12 ... . 
xxi. 2-11, 20, 21 
xxiii. 33 . . 
xxiv. 4 . , 
xxxii. 14 . , 
xxxii. 32, 33 
xxxiii. 12, 23 

Leviticus. 

xvi. 30 ... . 
xx. 13, 15, 16 . 
xxv. 8-13, 39-45 

Numbers. 

viii. 10. . . 
xi. 25 . . . 
xi. 25, 29 . . 
xi. 26 . . . 
xii. 6 . .116 
xii. 6-8 . . 
xiii. 30 
xiv. 12 
xiv. 39 . . 
xv. 32-36 . . 
xx. 10-12 . . 
xxii. 8, 19 . 
xxiii. chapter 
xxiv. " 
xxiv. 2 . . 
xxvii. 14 . . 
xxvii. 15-17 . 
xxvii. 18-23 . 
xxxiii. 2 . . 
xxxv. 6. 11-32 



Deuteronomy. 

vii. 1-5, 16-26 
ix. 13 . . 
x. 12, 13 . 
xi. 13, 14 . 
xii. 30, 31 
xiii. 1-5 . 
xv. 16, 17 
xvii. 15 
xviii. 9-12 

36 



Page 
96 
132 
132 
196 
129 
131 
131 



393 
324 

132 



. 429 

. 155 

124, 131 

. 125 



155 
127 
475 
131 
131 
231 
131 
156 
124 
124 
125 
131 
131 
430 
196 
132 



132 
131 
111 
111 
132 
123 
132 
116 
132 







Page 


xviii. 15, 18 . . 


117 


xviii. 18, 19 




111 


xviii. 21, 22 




121 


xx. 16-18 . 




132 


xxiv. 1-4 . 




323 


xxx. 10 . 




146 


xxxi. 9. 22 




196 


xxxii. 51 . 




131 


xxxiv. 5 . 




117 


xxxix. 9 . 




126 


Joshua. 




vi. 14 ... . 


119 


Judges. 




i. 16 .... 


133 


iv. 3, 4, 6-9, 11, 17 


133 


vi. 25 ... . 


156 


vi. 34 ... . 


126 


vii. 9, 13 . . . 


156 


ix. 8-15 . . . 


95 


xi. 29 ... . 


125 


xiii. 6 . . . . 


119 


xiii. 25 . . . . 


127 


xiv. 19 . . . 


126 


xv. 14 . . 




126 



1 Samuel. 

ii. 27 . . . 
iii. 7. 15 . . 
iii. 11-18 . . 
iii. 20 . . . 
vii. 5, 8, 9 . 
viii. 6, 21 . . 
viii. 15 . . 
ix. 9, 19 . . 
ix. 16 . . . 
x. 1 . . . . 
x. 6 . . . . 
x. 5, 10, 12 . 
x. 25 . . . 
xi. 6 ... 
xii. 1-25 . . 
xii. 1-5, 13-15, 17- 
23 .... 



119 
128 
3 34 
117 
134 
134 
226 
118 
122 
122 
126 
154 
196 
126 
111 

134 



562 



INDEX OF SCRIPTURE TEXTS. 



xiii. 13, 14 . . 
xv. 3,15, 17,18,22 

23 . 
xv. 14 . 
xv. 22 . 
xvi. 7 . 
xvi. 12, 13 
xvi. 13 
xviii. 10 
xix. 20-24 
xxii. 5 . 
xxiii. 2 
xxv. 39 
xxviii. 6 
xxviii. 6, 15 
xxx. 8 . . 



154 



Page 
134 

134 
102 
111 
98 
122 
126 
128 
, 155 
135 
119 
119 
128 
155 
119 



2 Samuel. 



ii. 1 . . 
v. 19, 23 
vii. 2 . 

vii. 2-17 
vii. 3 . 
vii. 17 . 
xii. 1-7, 13 
xii. 1-14 
xii. 7 . 
xii. 25 . 
xxiii. 2 
xxiv. 12-14, 



119 
119 
117 
135 
123 
128 
111 
135 
103 
117, 135 
. 127 
18, 19 135 



1 Kings. 



i. 11, 22, 34 
iii. 5 
iii. 5, 15 
iv. 32, 33 
v. 21 . 
xi. 29 . 
xii. 22 . 
xiii. 1 . 
xiii. 11 
xiii. 11-32 
xiii. 21, 24 
xiv. 2 . . 
xiv. 2, 18 . 
xvi. 7, 12 . 
xvii. 1 . . 
xvii. 6, 13-24, 

17-23 . 
xviii. 1 
xviii. 12 . 
xviii. 17, 18 
xviii. 18 . 
xviii. 21, 39 
xviii. 21 . 
xviii. 22, 36 
xviii. 36 . 
xviii. 20, 41-44 
xviii. 40 . . 



. 117 

. 135 
. 128 
. 156 
. 99 
. 122 
117, 136 
. 136 
. 119 
. 117 
. 123 
. 123 
. 136 
. 117 
. 117 
121, 137 
16, 

. 137 
121, 137 
127 
137 
103 
111 
121 
117 
119 
137 
138 



xviii. 46 . 
xix. 5-8 . 
xix. 16 . 
xix. 16, 19 
xix. 16, 19-21 
xxi. 17-24 
xxii. 6 
xxii. 8, 14-28 
xxii. 15, 17 
xxii. 23 . 
xxii. 24 . 



Page 
125 
137 
117 
122 
140 
137 
123 
139 
103 
151 
127 



2 Kings. 



15 . 



i. 10, 12 

i. 15, 17 

ii. 3, 5, 7 

ii. 8 . . 

ii. 13, 14 

ii. 14, 21, 22, 24 

ii. 15 . 

ii. 21 . 

ii. 23, 24 

iii. 11 . 

iii. 15 . 

iii. 17, 18 

iii. 20 . 

iv. 2-7 . 

iv. 4, 16, 43 . 

iv. 33-36, 41, 43 

v. 8, 13 . . 

v. 8, 10, 27 . 

v. 10, 14, 27 . 

vi. 5-7, 17, 18 

vi. 9, 16, 19, 32 

vi. 19 . . . 

vii. 1. 2 . . 

viii. 1, 10, 12, 13 

viii. 10 , 

ix. 1 . , 

ix. 6-10 

ix. 7 . 

x. 15-17 

xiii. 15-19 

xiii. 21 

xiv. 25 

xvii. 13 . . 

xix. 2 . . . 

xix. 2-7, 20-34 

xx. 1, 11, 14 . 

xx. 11 . . . 

xxiv. 14-17 = 



41 



117, 



138 
137 
154 
137 
122 
140 
125 
141 
142 
117, 140 
125 
141 
140 
140 
141 
140 
117 
141 
140 
140 
141 
142 
141 
141 
144 
117 
141 
119 
133 
141 
140, 144 
119, 145 
119 
117 
147 
117 
147 
150 



1 Chronicles. 



ii. 55 . 
vi. 49 . 
ix. 22 . 
xii. 18 . 
xvii. 1 . 
xxi. 9 . 



133 
119 
118 
126 
117 
135 



Page 

xxvi. 28 .... 118 

xxix. 29 . 105, 117, 118, 

135, 136, 196, 197 



2 Chronicles. 



ix. 20 . 
ix. 29 . 
xi. 2 . 
xii. 5, 15 
xii. 15 . 
xiii. 22 . 
xv. 1 . 
xv. 8 . 
xvi. 7, 10 
xviii. 7, 13 
xx. 14 . , 
xxi. 12 
xxi. 12-15 
xxiv. 9 
xxiv. 20 
xxvi. 21 
xxvi. 22 
xxix. 25 
xxxv. 18 



105. 



-27 



. 197 

135, 136 

. 136 

. 117 

, . 136 

117, 136 

. 125 

, .117 

. 118 

. 139 

. 125 

117, 196 

. 137 

. 119 

. 120 

. 146 

196, 197 

135, 136 

. 117 



Ezra. 

v. 1 117 

vi. 14 117 

Nehemiah. 

ix. 20 125 

x. 29 119 



Job. 

iv. 12-19 . . 
xxvi. 14 . . 
xxxiii. 15-17 



156 

58 

155 



Psalms. 

i. 2 112 

xix. 7 ..... 112 

xxxiii. 9 . . . . 60 

cxxxix. .... 50 



Proverbs. 
xxx. 27 . . . 



464 



Isaiah. 

i. 1 128 

i. 2, 3, 11-20. . . Ill 

i. 5, 10 103 

vi. 1 146 



INDEX OF SCRIPTURE TEXTS. 



563 



vi. 5. . . 
vii. 3-17 . 
viii. 1 . . 
viii. 11 . 
ix. 15 . . 
xi. 2 . . 
xx. 2, 3 . 
xxviii. 11, 12 
xxix. 10-12 
xxx. 8 . . 
xxvii. 6, 7, 
xxxviii. 1-8, 
xlii. 1 . . 
xliv. 3 . . 
xliv. 26 . 
lii. 8 . . 
It. 1-13 . 
lv. 11 . . 



21 



35 
21 



Jeremiah. 



i. 5 . 



25 



i. 7, 9 . 

i. 7-10 . 
iv. 10 . 
v. 31 . 
vi. 7 . 
xiv. 14 
xv. 17 . 
xvi. 11, 12, 13 
xvii. 9 . . 
xviii. 7-10. 
xx. 2 . . 
xx. 7, 8, 14-1 
xx. 9 . . 
xxiii. 5-8 . 
xxiii. 15, 16, 

32 
xxiii. 33-38 
xxv. 2 

XXV. 11 . 

xx vi. 2, 18, 19 
xxvii. 14, 15 
xxvii. 14-16 
xxviii. 1-17 
xxviii. 5, 10, 
xxix. 1 
xxix. 8, 21-23, 31 

32 . . 
xxix. 9, 21 
xxix. 10 . 
xxx. 8-11 
xxxi. 31-37 
xxxii. 36-44 
xxxiii. 14 
xxxv. 6, 7 
xxxvi. 2, 3 
xxxvi. 4 . 
xxxvi. 2, 9, 21, 32 
li. 60 . . . . 



129, 



20 



12 



11 



Page 
147 
147 
196 
159 
123 
125 
119 
228 
128 
196 
147 
147 
124 
125 
119 
119 
112 
179 



117 
149 
120 
149 
149 
123 
119 
123 
159 
103 
97 
146 
117 
149 
127 
150 

123 

128 
117 
150 
146 
149 
123 
149 
117 
196 

149 
123 
150 
150 
150 
150 
150 
133 
146 
196 
J 50 
196 



Page 



EZEKIEL. 



i. 3 . . 

ii. 2 . . 
ii. 5. . 
ii. 7 . . 
iii. 4, 22 
iii. 10, 11 
iii. 12, 14 
iii. 14, 22 
iii. 15 . 
iii. 17 . 
viii. 1 . 

viii. 3, 5 
xi. 1 . 
xi. 1-24 
xi. 2 . 
xi. 5 
xiv. 1 . 
xiv. 9 . 
xiv. 14, 20 
xx. 1 . 
xxiv. 1 
xx vi. 1 
xxviii. 3 
xxix. 17 
xxix. 18 
xxxii. 32 
xxxiii. 7 
xxxiii. 21 
xxxiii. 22 
xxxiii. 33 
xxxvi i. 1 
xxxvii. 29 
xliii. 1 . . 
xliii. 11 



. 150 

125, 159 

. 127 

. 117 

. 120 

. 127 

. 120 

. 127 

125, 159 

. 150 

. 119 

125, 126, 128, 

150, 159 

. 127 

. 128 

. 127 

. 123 

. 126 

. 150 

. 151 

. 152 

. 150 

. 150 

150, 151 

. 152 

. 150 

. 151 

. 103 

. 119 

. 150 

. 125 

. 117 

125, 128 

. 125 

. 128 

. 196 



Daniel 

i. 6, 8, 12 . . 
ii. 3, 9, 10, 11, 
29 

iv. 4, 7,' 10. 19 
v. 13, 18, 25, 28 
vi. 20 . . . 
vii. 1 . . . 
vii. 1-14, 15-27 
viii. 1, 18 . . 
viii. 1-26 . . 
x. 1-9 . . . 
xii. 4 . . . 



HOSEA. 



ix. 7 
xii. 13 



. 152 
19, 

152 
153 
153 
119 
128 
153 
128 
153 
153 
153 



. 119 
116, 117 



Joel. 



ii. 7. 11 
ii. 28, 29 



464 
128 



ii. 28 . 
ii. 28-32 
iii. 1, 2 



Page 

. 155 

167, 168 

. 125 



Amos. 



iv. 4 
v. 7. 
vii. 14 



iii. 10 . 
iv. 1-11 
iv. 2 . 



103 
103 
154 



Jonah. 



. 129 

. 145 

129, 145 



MlCAH. 

iii. 6-8 128 

iii. 8 126 

vii. 4 119 

Nahum. 

i. 1 128 

Habakkuk. 

i. 1 117 

ii. 2 196 

ii. 3, 4 228 

iii. 1 117 

Haggai. 

i. 1 117 

i. 13 119 

ii. 1 117 

Zechaeiah. 

i. 1, 7 117 

vii. 12 119 

xii. 10 . . . . . 177 



Malachi. 



iii. 1 
iii. 23 



Matthew. 



119 
117 



i. 20 . . 
i. 24 . . 
ii. 12, 13. 19, 
ii. 13, 19, 22 
iii. 2 . . 
iii. 7-12 . 
iii. 10, 12 . 
v. 17 . . 
v. 17-19 . 



22 



128, 156 

. 128 

. 128 

. 156 

. 122 

. 153 

. 358 



189 



564: 



INDEX OF SCRIPTURE TEXTS. 



v. 28 . 
v. 48 . 
vi. 12 . 
vi. 26 . 
vii. 12 . 
vii. 18, 20 
vii. 22, 23 
ix. 12, 13 
ix. 37, 38 
x. 1-4 . 
x. 19, 20 
x. 31 . 
x. 34-36 
x. 40 . 
xi. 9 . 
xi. 28 . 
xii. 39-41 
xiv. 3-5 
xvi. 4 . 
xvi. 17-20 
xvii. 12 
xviii. 18 
xix. 3-9 
xix. 8 . 
xix. 19 
xx. 28 . 
xxii. 21 
xxii. 37-40 
xxii. 37 
xxii. 41-45 
xxvii. 19 
xxviii. 18 
xxviii. 19, 20 



Mark. 



i. 1 . . 
i. 7, 8 . 
iii. 2 . 
iv. 28 . 
xii. 26, 27 
xiii. 11 
xvi. 15 



Luke. 

i. 15 ... 
iii. 7-14 . 
iii. 12-14 . 
iii. 13 . . 
iv. 4 . . 
vi. 13 . . 
x. 16 . . 
xi. 29, 30 . 
xii. 11, 12 
xvi. 29 
xvi. 31. . 
xviii. 18, 19 
xviii. 27 . 
xxiv. 25-27 
xxiv. 44 . 190 
xxiv. 49 . . 



Page 

. 97 

. 385 

. 394 

. 63 

. 232 

. 411 

. 121 

. 110 

. 473 

. 164 

. 166 

. 452 

. 189 

. 165 

. 153 

. 110 

. 145 

. 153 

. 145 

. 165 

. 153 

. 165 

. 321 
132, 325 

. 413 
99, 111 

. 258 

. 206 

. 377 

. 223 

. 128 

. 173 

. 257 



175 
358 
122 
95 
220 
166, 192 
173, 257 



126 
122 

153 

358 

174 

164 

165 

145 

166 

224 

132 

417 

58 

190 

1 , 224 

7, 358 



John. 



i. 1, 3 . 

i. 3 . . 
i. 17 . 
i. 32 . 
i. 33 . 
iii. 2 . 
iii. 16 . 
iii. 26-30 
v. 36 . 
v. 40 . 
v. 45-47 
v. 46, 47 
vi. 51 . 
vi. 70 . 
vii. 17 
vii. 39 . 
vii. 38, 39 
vii. 37-39 
viii. 12 
x. 41 . 
xi. 49 . 
xii. 37 . 
xiii. 18, 20 
xiv. 9 . 
xiv. 16, 1 
xiv. 26 
xv. 16, 27 
xv. 26 
xvi. 7 . 
xvi. 7, 13- 
xvi. 7-15 
xvi. 8 . 
xvi. 12 . 
xvi. 13 
xvi. 14 
xvi. 14, 15 
xvii. 3 . 
xvii. 7-15 
xviii. 36 
xix. 24, 3( 
xx. 21 . 
xx. 21, 23 
xx. 22, 23 



106 



Acts. 



i. 4,5 

i. 6, 7 
i. 8 . 



i. 16, 20 
i. 26 . 
ii. 4, 6, 7 
li. 4. . 
ii. 16-21 
ii. 16, 33 
ii. 33 . 
iii. 18, 21- 
iv. 12 . 
iv. 19 . 
iv. 25 . 



21 i 



Page 



. 59 

. 51 

. 176 

. 125 

. 358 

. 121 

. Ill 

. 153 

. 121 

. Ill 

. 225 

. 196 

. Ill 

. 165 

. 145 

. 167 

. 193 

. 368 

. 99 

. 122 

. 124 

. 176 

. 165 
99 

166, 370 

358, 359 

. 165 

192, 359 

. 167 

. 166 

. 192 

. 370 

. 96 

358, 359 

- 65 

. 166 

110, 111 

. 112 

. 258 

. 177 

. 164 

. 165 

. 167 



358, 360 
. 361 
167, 174 
. 175 
. 164 
. 168 
126, 362 
. 167 
. 358 
. 167 
. 175 
452 
259 
175 



111. 









Page 


iv. 31 . . 




126 


iv. 33 . . 




454 


v. 5, 6 . . 




143 


v. 20, 30-32 




112 


v. 29 




259 


vi. 3, 5 




126 


vi. 3-8 . . 




367 


vi. 6 . . 




434 


viii. 14-17 


'l68 


, 430 


viii. 26, 39, 4 


) . . 


127 


ix. 17 . . 




126 


x. 10, 11 






93 


x. 38 . 






174 


x. 43 . 






175 


x. 46 . 






364 


xi. 16 . 






364 


xi. 27 . 






156 


xiii. 1-3 






432 


xiii. 9 . 




. 


126 


xiii. 9-11 






168 


xiii. 20 






174 


xiv. 3, 8-1 


' 




168 


xiv. 14 






164 


xvii. 28 






61 


xix. 2 . 






305 


xix. 6 . 






168 


xix. 11, 12 




144 


168 


xx. 6, 7 






275 


xx. 7 . 






273 


xx. 28 . 




'448 


492 


xx. 35 . 






66 


xxiii. 3-5 






172 


xxvi. 9-11 




389 


Roma 


NS. 




i. 1,5 . . 




165 


i. 16 . 






112 


iii. 9, 19 






390 


iv. 12 . 






227 


vi. 1, 6,11 


, 1: 


}, 18 '. 


379 


vii. 2, 3 






331 


vii. 7-12 






178 


viii. 2, 3 






380 


viii. 9 . 




'381 


405 


viii. 13 






391 


ix. 25 . 






178 


xi. 26 . 






178 


xi. 33 . 


4 


^9,' 504 


512 


xi. 36 . 






57 


xiii. 9, 10 






206 


xiv. 10-20 . 




228 


xv. 13, 19 . 




174 


1 Cor i xi 


HIANS. 




i. 1 . . . . 




165 


i. 7-9 .. . 




387 


i. 14-16 . . 




173 


i. 17 . . . 




164 


ii. 4. . . - 




174 


ii. 6 . . 




"l68, 


467 



INDEX OF SCRIPTURE TEXTS. 



565 



ii. 6, 12, 13, 16 




ii. 12, 13 . . 




iii. 10 . . . 


16c 


iv. 1-5 . . . 




iv. 17, 21 . . 




vi. 11 . . . 




vii. 10, 11, 12 




vii. 14, 15, 16 




vii. 15, 16 . . 




vii. 17 . . . 




vii. 25 . . . 




ix. 1 ... 




ix. 1-3 . . . 




ix. 26, 27 . . 




x. 1-6 . . . 




x. 31 . . . 




xi. 3, 23-26 . 




xi. 16 . . . 




xi. 20 . . . 




xii. 4-11, 7, 8, 2 


L . 


xii. 11 . . . 




xii. 28 . . . 




xiii. 9, 12 . . 




xiii. 13 . . 




xiv. 2-5, IS, 19 




xiv. 21 . . 




xiv. 22 . . . 




xiv. 24 . . 




xiv. 33 . . 




xiv. 37 . . . 




XV. o . . . 




xv. 8-10 . . 





xvi. 1, 2 



272, 



Page 
165 
191 
, 168 
391 
165 
382 
327 
328 
331 
276 
381 
164 
165 
391 
178 

64 
165 
276 
277 
168 
169 
165 

98 
195 
168 
228 
362 
363 
276 
165 
455 
164 
276 



2 CORIXTHIAXS. 

i. 1 . . . . 
i. 12 . . , 

iii. 18 . . . 

iv. 4, 16 . , 

iv. 5, 6 . . 

v. 20, 21 . , 

vi. 4, 5 . . 

viii. 23 . . . 

ix. 7 . . 

x. 8-11 . 

xi. 6, 13 . 

xi. 29 . . 

xii. 2, 3 . 

xii. 7-9 . 
xii. 11, 12. 

xii. 12 . . 

xiii. 2. 3, 10 



Gal ati a 

i. 1, 8. 11, 12, l 1 ! 
i. 1, 11 . , 
i. 7-9 . . 
i. 11. 12 . 

i. 12 . . 
ii. 8 . . . 



165 
390 
354 
354 
112 
112 
469 
164 
274 
165 
165 
4R0 
173 
Ki8 
165 
164 
165 



. 165 
. 164 

191, 453 
. 191 
. 100 

164, 165 



ii. 11-13 
iii. 8 . 
iii. 10 . 
iii. 16 . 
iii. 23, 24 
iii. 28 . 
iv. 21-31 
v. 22 . 



172 



Paire 
2 453 

178 
390 
226 
178 
227 
178 
195 



Ephesiaxs. 



i. 1 . . 

i. 13 . . 
ii. 20 . 
iii. 1-11 
iv. 3 . 
iv. 6 . 
iv. 11 . 
iv. 12-16 
v. 1 . . 
vi. 12 . 



Phil 



11. 6 . 

ii. 25 
iii. 6 
iii. IS 
iii. l'i 



12-15 



. 165 
. 355 
. 165 
. 165 
. 464 
. 61 
165, 448 
168, 492 
. 385 
. 459 



411 
164 



392 
165 



COLOSSIAXS. 

i. 1,25-28 ... 165 

i. 16 59 

i. 22, 23 ... . 112 

i. 24 69 

i. 28 ... 448, 460 

ii. 11 . . . . . 391 

iii. 9, 10 . . . . 354 

1 Thessaeoniaxs. 



i. 1 . . 

ii. 6 . . 

ii. 10 . 

ii. 13 . 

iii. 12, 13 

iv. 2 . 

iv. 3 . 

v. 23 . 



. . 164 

. . 164 

. . 390 

. . 165 

. . 387 

. . 165 

. . 386 

. 387, 388 



2 Thessaloxiaxs. 

ii. 15 165 

iii. 6, 12, 14 . . . 165 

1 Timothy. 

i. 5 413 

i. 12 165 

i. 13 389 

i. 15 Ill 



ii.4. . 
ii. 5, 6 . 
ii. 7 . . 
iii. 4, 5 
iv. 1 . 
iv. 6 
iv. 11-13 
iv. 14 . 
v. 17 . 
v. 22 . 
vi. 10 . 
vi. 15, 16 



Pace 
. 386 
. Ill 

164, 165 
. 460 
. 165 
. 492 
. 447 
. 435 

448, 460 
. 436 
. 413 
58, 59 



2 Timothy 



i. 1,11 . 
i. 6 . . 
ii. 2 . 
ii! 15 . 
iii. 14, 15 
iii. 14-17 
iii. 16, 17 
iv. 2, 3 . 



. . 164, 165 
. .168.435 
... 440 
... 448 
. . 90, 112 
178,179, 188 
. . 100, 450 
. . 448, 451 



Titus. 

i. 1 165 

i. 9 440 

iii. 5 353 



Hebrews. 



i. 1 
i. 3 



ii.4. . 
iii. 1 . 
iv. 3 . 
iv. 9, 11 
v. 12 . 
v. 12-14 
vi. 1 . 
vi. 2 . 
vii. 25 . 
ix. 13, 14 
x. 10, 14. 
x. 25 . 
xi. 3 . 
xi. 5 . 
xi. 6 . 
xi. 17-19 
xi. 24 . 
xi. 31 . 
xii. 5-8 
xii. 6 . 



■22 



91, 93, 



37H 



231, 



James. 



iv. 14 . . 

v. 17, 18 . 



162 
61 
169 
164 
39* 
396 
449 
346 
397 
431 
398 
398 
398 
277 
51 
130 
405 
131 
131 
133 
399 
63 



400 

64 

137 



566 



INDEX OF SCRIPTURE TEXTS. 



Page 

1 Peter. 

i. 5 408 

i. 10, 12 ... . 176 

i. 10, 12, 16, 24, 25 . 175 

i. 15, 16 ... . 385 

ji. 6-8 175 

ii. 16 119 

iii. 6, 10-12, 15, 20 175 

iii. 19, 20 . . . . 130 

iv. 11 175 

v. 5 411 

2 Peter. 

i. 16 454 

i. 19-21 . 175, 176, 190 



i. 


21 






94 


117 


n. 


5. 








130 


U. 


16 








175 


in 


. 2 








175 


m 


.18 




355, 


421 


423 






1 John. 






i. 


7 . 






393 


i. 


8, 9 




384 


394 


n. 


1. 






384 


in 


.6.8, 


9 . . 




383 


in 


. 15 






97 


IV 


. 21 






413 


V. 


4. 








383 



2 John. 
10 ... . 




Page 
45<> 


JUDE. 

14 ... . 




117 


14, 15 . . . 
24 ... . 




130 

387 


Revelation. 

i. 10 

xxi. 14 . . . 164 
xxii. 5 


277 

, 165 

64 



INDEX. 



Abraham, as a prophet, 130, 131. 

Adam, singular account of the name, 
77. 

Adeney, W. F. The Hebrew Utopia; 
a Study of Messianic Prophecy-, 110. 

Adultery, Scriptural reason for di- 
vorce,' 323. 

Agassiz, L., Mrs. Eddy versus, 72. 

Alford, H., on 1 Cor. xvi. 1, 2, 272; 
2 Cor. iii. 18, 354; Col. iii. 9, 10, 
355; 1 John iii. 6, 9, 384; Heb. v. 
14, vi. 1, 397. 

Apostles, inspiration of, 108-181; char- 
acteristics of, 164; signification of 
name, 164; Christ's promise, 166; 
fulfilment, 169; effect of fulfilment, 
170. 

Apostolic churches observed the Lord's 
Day, 272. 

Argyle, Duke of, holds space and time 
to be infinite, 10. 

Armstrong, L. M., cured of chronic 
heart disease, 85, 86. 

Arnold, T., on God's commendation* 
of Jael, 133. 

Augustine, enters the ministry late, 
470; on reason and faith, 478. 

Authority of Scriptures, 195, 502. 



Badgely, R. O., crushed foot healed 

from a distance, 86. 
Baldwin, T., an able minister, without 

preparatory study, 443. 
Bardesanes, on the Lord's Day, 281. 
Barnabas, Epistle of, on the celebra- 
tion of the eighth da}' bv Christians, 

280. 
Barnabas, the Levite, education of, 

468. 
Baumgarten, M., on Luke's mention 

of the first day of the week in Acts 

xx. 7, 275. 



Bengel, J. A., on the meaning of " per- 
fect" in Phil. iii. 12-15, 392. 

Bible in public schools, 266. 

Bowen, F., quotation in " Modern 
Philosophy" of tabular statement 
of truths concerning time and space 
from Schopenhauer, 3. 

Bowles on Mormon polygamy, in 
" Across the Continent," 335. 

Bowne, B. P., classed with monistic 
philosophers, 73. 

Briggs, C. A., the prophet of Javeh 
personally called and endowed, 160, 
162. 

Butler, Bishop, on difficulties in specu- 
lation, 497, 498. 

Bunyan, J., the future life perfect, 426; 
a great preacher though uneducated, 
443. 



Calvin, J., fine scholar, 471. 

Carpenter, physical force not gener- 
ated by the will, 54. 

Chaplains supported by the State, 266. 

Character tested by religious inquiry, 
497-512; difficulties in such inquiry 
real, 498, 499 ; the existence of a 
personal God, 500; Divine author- 
ity of the Scriptures, 502; perfec- 
tions of God, 502; act of creation, 
503 ; object of creation, 503 ; free- 
dom of man in action, 504; holiness 
of God, 504, 505; inherited sinful- 
ness, 506, 507 ; lessons of reverence, 
faith, and hope, 509-512. 

Christian Science as taught by Mrs. 
Eddj r , 71-77; metaphysics exalted 
as the want of the times, 71 ; the 
realit}' of matter denied, 71, 72; 
pain, error, and sin pronounced illu- 
sions, 72, 76; God is spirit and the 
only being or substance, 73 ; God is 



568 



INDEX. 



infinite and impersonal, 74 ; panthe- 
ism true, 76 ; man the idea of God, 
and so infinite and impersonal, 77. 

Christians, — are they separable into 
two great classes ? 351 ; renewal of, 
353; sealing of, 355; is baptism in 
the Spirit to be expected by all ? 
358. 

Church history, a good, described and 
estimated, 533-560; must show the 
progress and influence of Christian- 
ity, 533, 534; must be drawn from 
original sources, 534-536; must rest 
on correct views of Christianity, 
536-541; must emphasize current 
questions, 542-545 ; may ti'eat dead 
issues briefly, 545; will show the 
great work of Christianity, 547. 

Church property may be taxed, 266. 

Clement of Alexandria, on keeping 
the Lord's day, 282. 

Comte, A., religious instinct of, 18. 

Conant, T. J., on 2 Kings xiii. 21, 
144; Gen. ii. 3, 273; Heb. v. 14, 
vi. 1, 397. 

Coneybeare, W. J., Paul's work in 
Troas, 275. 

Constantine, Sunday laws by, 285. 

Creation, act of, 503; object of, 503; 
unthinkableness denied, 25 ; con- 
servation of force not inconsistent 
with, 31. 

Creator, God not the, 24; Source of 

■ all things, 58. See " God, the re- 
lation of, to Nature." 

Curtis, E. L., meaning of " nabhi," 
116; office of a prophet, 158. 

Cyprian on the Lord's Day, 284; work 
in North Africa, 469. 



Daniel, work as a prophet, 152. 

Davidson, S-, discourses of prophecy, 
109. 

Deborah, celebration of Jael's deed, 
133. 

De Wette, definition of prophets, 156; 
comment on 1 Cor. xvi. 1, 2, 272. 

Difficulties of religious thought real, 
498; as to Divine authority of Scrip- 
tures, 502; existence and perfection 
of God, 500; act and object of crea- 
tion, 503; freedom of moral action, 
504. 



Dionysius of Corinth on the Lord's 
Day, 282. 

Divorce according to the New Testa- 
ment, 321-341; marriage a Divine 
ordinance, 323; divorce authorized 
for adultery, 324; but for no other 
causes, 325; Paul allows separation 
for another cause, but not divorce, 
327; his rule as to a bishop or wid- 
ow, 332; Mormon polygamy, 334; 
heathen polygamists, 336; divorce 
laws in this country, 337; causes 
and remedies of divorce, 339. 

Doctrinal theology, considerations said 
to lie against it, 477; defined, 477; 
exceedinglv desirable for pastors, 
478. 

Doctrine of the higher Christian life 
examined, 344-427; reasons for this 
study, 344; points of agreement, 
345; points of difference, 348; all. 
must judge of these, 349; are there 
only two great classes of Christians ? 
351; meaning of "renewal" in the 
case of Christians, 353; of "seal- 
ing" or "being sealed," 355; of 
"being baptized in the Spirit," 
358; of similar "gifts," 364; de- 
gree of sanctification claimed, 372; 
Biblical evidence examined, Rom. 
vi., 379; ch. viii., 380; other ex- 
pressions, 382; 1 John, 383; Paul's 
experience, 388 ; John's experience, 
393; Epistle to the Hebrews, 346; 
Epistle of James, 399; doctrine of 
Peter, 400; evidence of Christian 
experience examined, 403; another 
view of sanctification, 420. 

Dreams media of revelation, 155. 

Duesterdieck, F., on the Lord's Day, 
Rev. i. 10, 277. 

Duty of keeping the Lord's Dav, 
271. 



Eddy, Mrs. G., Christian Science and 
Mind-cure, 71-89. 

Edersheim, A., prophecy and history 
in relation to the Messiah, 110. 

Elijah, as a prophet, 136. 

Elisha, as a prophet, 140. 

Elliot, the settlers of Plymouth and 
Massachusetts Bay a voluntary as- 
sociation, 249, 253*. 



INDEX. 



569 



Elliott, C, Old Testament prophecy, 
110. 

End or goal of all things, 64. 

Ends of human government, 247. 

Enoch, as a prophet, 130. 

Estimate of Old Testament by New- 
Testament writers, 175. 

Eusebius, quotation from Dionysius of 
Corinth, 282. 

Ewald. H., Old Testament prophets, 
110.' 

Ezekiel, as a prophet, 150. 



Fairbairx, P., prophecy — its na- 
ture, function, and interpretation, 
109. 

Fellowships, 513-532; need of learned 
Christians, 514 ; objections an- 
swered, 518 ; plan delineated, 524; 
amount of money needed, 531. 

Foster, R. S., the Christian may be 
free from sin, 376. 

Freedom of conscience for others as 
well as for self, 250. 

Freedom of man in action, 504. 

Fuller, A., self-educated, 443. 

Fiirst on the meaning of the Dame 
•'prophets,' 5 116; and "seers," 
118. 



George, H., revelation progressive, 
162. 

Gesenius, meaning of "nabhi," 115; 
of " seers," 118. 

Gieseler, conjecture as to Constantine, 
285. 

Gifford, E. H., voices of the prophets, 
109. 

Gloag, P. J., messianic prophecy, 110. 

God, the relation of, to Nature, 23-56 ; 
theory of Lotze and Schurman ex- 
amined, proofs that God is not the 
Creator. but simply the ground of 
Nature, questioned, 24; creation un- 
thinkable, an error, 25; no evidence 
of a beginning of the world, denied, 
29; conservation of force not incon- 
sistent with creation, 31 ; evidence 
that things are divine actions in 
souls, criticised, 31; strict idealism 
unsatisfactory, 31 ; mentality of 
molecules unproved, 36 ; immanence 



of God pantheistically explained, 31; 
ordinary theory restated, 51 ; the 
source or creator of all things, 58; 
the preserver and ruler of all things, 
61; the end or goal of all things, 64. 

God, existence of a personal, 499; per- 
fections of, 504; Mrs. Eddy's view 
of, 73; existence as moral and infi- 
nite, adorable, 16. 

Golden Rule, the, 232; this and second 
great command, 232; applicable to 
choice of life work, 234; and to 
manner of doing that w r ork, 235 ; 
to social and business intercourse, 
236; reasonableness of, 238, 243; 
possibility of observing, 240. 

Gould, E. P., on 1 Cor. xiv. 21, Is. 
xxviii. 11, 12, 229. 

Government, legitimate ends of hu- 
man, 247; not to be administered as 
one pleases, 250. 

Green, W. H. } signification of the word 
" prophet," 118; no data for chro- 
nology before Abraham, 212. 



Hackett, H. B., on Acts viii. 39, 127 ; 
Acts xiii. 20, 174; Gal. iii. 16; Acts 
ii. 6, 7, 362; Phil. iii. 12-15. 392. 

Hamilton, Sir Wm., our partial knowl- 
edge of the infinite due to mental 
weakness, 10, 11. 

Hands, imposition of, in ordination, 
428. 

Harris, Professor, doctrine of creation 
a safeguard against pantheism, 27 
[note]. 

Hazard, R. G., thinks matter unreal, 
mere imagery, 72. 

Hengstenberg, E. W., prophets in 
ecstatic condition, 157; on Lord's 
Day in Rev. i. 10, 277. 

Herrick, account of Biblical revelation, 
105. 

Hessey, J. A., Lord's Day observed in 
the second and third centuries, 284. 

Hickok, L., duty of good men to obey 
the higher law, 338. 

Higher Christian Life, doctrine ex- 
amined, 344. 

History, Church, a good, 533. 

Hodge, C, on 1 Cor. xvi. 1, 2, 274. 

Hofman, J. C. K., Weissagung und 
Erfullung, 110. 



570 



INDEX. 



Holiness of God, 504. 

Holmes, Obadiah, "You have struck 

me with roses," 253. 
Hopkins, M., physical benefits of the 

Lord's Day, 315. 
Huss, J., 470. 
Huxley, T. H., opposed by Mrs. Eddy, 

72. 



Idealism, unsatisfactory, 31. 

Illusions, pain, error, and sin, 72. 

Immanence of God pantheistically 
explained, 31 ; ordinary theory, 51. 

Imposition of hands in ordination, 
428; significance of act in Old Testa- 
ment, 428 ; significance in New- 
Testament, 430; who shall perform 
it, 436; conclusions, 438. 

Infinites, our knowledge of, 1-22; 
equivalent to infinite objects, 2; 
definition of the term " objects," 2; 
definition of the infinite, 3 ; defini- 
tion by Mansel incorrect, 4; defi- 
nition by Spencer criticised, 5; 
definition of knowledge, 5; partial 
knowledge real, 7; time and space 
conditions of finite existence, 8; 
Hamilton and Herbert Spencer criti- 
cised, 10 ; imaging not essential to 
knowing, 12; Kant's doctrine of 
time and space rejected, 13; an infi- 
nite object may be known in part, 
15; existence of God, moral, infi- 
nite, adorable, 16-21. 

Ingham, J., cured of consumption by 
Mrs. Eddy, 84. 

Inquiry, religious, a test of character, 
497. 

Inspiration of the Prophets and Apos- 
tles, 108-181; reasons for the study, 
108; reasons for the limits, 109; 
object sought by inspiration, 110; 
characteristics of prophetic inspira- 
tion, 114 ; learned from the designa- 
tion, 115; from other designations 
of prophets, 118; from incidental 
explanations, 120; from the required 
attestations, miracles, 121; predic- 
tions fulfilled, 121; consecration by 
a known prophet, 122; an extraor- 
dinary message, 122; need of such 
attestations, 123; from accounts of 
the Spirit's relation to them, 124; 



from the life and work of particular 
prophets, 130; Enoch, Noah, Abra- 
ham, 130; Moses, 131; Deborah, 
133; Samuel, 134; Nathan, 135; 
Gad, 135; Ahijah, 136; Shemaiah, 
Iddo, 136; Elijah, 137; Micaiah, 
Elisha, 139; Jonah, 144; Isaiah, 
146; Jeremiah, 148; Ezekiel, 150; 
Daniel, 152; John the Baptist, 153; 
minor prophets, band of prophets, 
seventy elders, 154; dreams as 
media of revelation, 155; opinions 
of modern scholars, 156; conclusions 
as to prophetic inspiration, 160; 
characteristics of apostolic inspira- 
tion, 164; signification of the name 
" apostles," 164; relation of the apos- 
tles to other Christians, 164; Christ's 
promise of inspiration to them, 166; 
the fulfilment of this promise, 167 ; 
effect of the fulfilment on the apos- 
tles, 169; their teaching after this 
event, 171; objections to our view 
and conclusions, 172; estimate of the 
Old Testament by Peter, John, Mat- 
thew, Paul, and Jesus Christ, 175; 
summar}' of results, 180. 

Inspiration of the Scriptures, 182-217; 
four theories of inspiration ex- 
plained, 184; examination of these 
theories, what the Scriptures claim, 
188; what the sacred writers claim 
as to their authority, 195; as to the 
substance of their teaching, 198; as 
to the object of their teaching, 199; 
of the methods of their teaching, 
201; of the consistency of their 
teaching, 203; as to God, 203; as to 
morality, 205; as to sin and salva- 
tion, 206; objections, too little in- 
fluence ascribed to the Holy Spirit, 
207; effect of inspiration, 212; too 
much influence ascribed to the Holy 
Spirit, 213; final propositions, 216. 

Interpretation of Old Testament, New 
Testament a guide, 218-231; all 
helps welcome, 218 ; reasons for con- 
fidence in Christ's, 219. 

Isaiah, work as a prophet, 146. 



Jenkin, A. C, delivered from sin in 

the higher life, 374. 
Jeremiah, work as a prophet, 148. 



INDEX. 



571 



Juhn the Baptist, as a prophet, 154. 

John's experience as to sanctitication, 
393. 

Jonah, as a prophet, 144. 

Judgments, unsearchable, 499. 

Justin Martyr, on Sunday for Chris- 
tian worship, 281. 

Kant, I., denial of the objectivity of 
time and space, 13. 

Kitto, J., on the destruction of fifties 
by fire from heaven, 139. 

Knobel, A., description of a prophet, 
120. 

Knowledge of infinites, 1-22; defini- 
tion of, 5 ; partial yet real, 7 ; 
imaging not essential to, 12. 

Knox, J., 471. 

Kuenen, A., the prophets and proph- 
ecy in Israel, 109'. 

Leathes, S., Old Testament prophecy 
in witness of divine foreknowledge, 
109. 

Legitimate ends of human govern- 
ment, 247; one to secure natural 
rights, 256. 

Leibnitz, G. "NY., canon of , rejected by 
Lotze, 49. 

Liddell and Scott, the word ' ' prophet, ' ' 
117. 

Lord's Day, duty and manner of keep- 
ing it, 271-320; theories as to the 
duty, 271; was kept by apostolic 
churches, 272; and from the first 
age onward, 279; argument from the 
Jewish Sabbath, 286 ; difference be- 
tween the Sabbath and the Lord's 
Day, 292; argument from the prime- 
val Sabbath, 293; good influence of 
keeping one day in seven, Proudhon, 
Rogers, 298 ; how the day should be 
kept, 303; by public and social 
worship, 304; by works of love and 
compassion, 306; by rest from secu- 
lar toil, 307; harvesting, Sunday 
papers, railroad trains, excursions, 
libraries, museums, 307; State laws 
for Sunday, 314. 

Lotze, H., relation of God to nature, 
24-73. 

Lowe, T. O., view of the higher life, 
374. 

Luther, M., 471. 



Macnaught, J., superscription on 
the cross, 211. 

Mahan, A., baptism of the Holv 
Spirit, 355, 363, 365, 375. 

Manner of keeping the Lord's dav, 
304. 

Mansel, H. L., pantheistic definition 
of the infinite, 3. 

Marriage, a divine ordinance, 323. 

Massachusetts, early religious legisla- 
tion unjust, 250. 

Matter, reality of denied, 71. 

McClintock and Strong, prophetic 
appeal adapted to the people, 141. 

Melanchthon, P., 471. 

Mentality of molecules unproved, 36. 

Metaphysics, view of Mrs. Eddv, 
71. 

Meyer, definition of prophets, 157; 
on 1 Cor. xvi. 1, 2, 272; 1 Cor. ix. 
27, 391. 

Micaiab, prophet, 139. 

Mind-cure, as taught by Mrs. Eddy, 
78-86; cure of Mrs. Eddy herself, 
81; of a consumptive woman, 83; 
of a consumptive man, 84; of a 
woman at childbirth, 85 ; of a case 
of severe enteritis, 85; of heart 
disease, 86 ; of a crushed foot, 86 ; 
an explanation of these cures sug- 
gested, 87. 

Ministry, preparation for, 440-475. 

Miracles expected of prophets, 121. 

Moral instruction in public schools. 
269. 

Mormon polygamy, 334. 

Moses, work as a prophet, 131. 

Mysteries of Christian religion, 499. 



Nathan, prophet, 135. 

Nature, relation of God to, 23-56. 

New Testament, as a guide to the in- 
terpretation of the Old, 218-231; all 
helps to interpretation welcome, 218 ; 
reasons for confidence in Christ's 
interpretation of the Old Testament, 
218; instances of interpretation by 
him, 220: bearing of his words on 
the authorship of some Old Testa- 
ment writings, 222 ; reasons for 
hearing the apostles on the same 
points, 225; writer's view, 229. 

Noah, as a prophet, 130. 



572 



INDEX. 



Noyes, G. R., translation of Cor. iii. 
9,10,355; meaning of "perfect" in 
Heb. vi. 1,399. 



Old Testament, New Testament a 
guide to, 218-231; reasons for con- 
fidence in Christ's interpretation, 
218; bearing of Christ's words on 
the authorship of, 222. 

Ordination, imposition of hands in, 
428. 

Orelli, C. van, Old Testament proph- 
ecy, 109 ; truth of prophecy, 
113. 

Origen, on keeping the Lord's Day, 
283, 469. 

Original sources, important for Church 
history, 534. 



Palfrey, J. G., defence of the Colo- 
nial laws of Massachusetts, 250, 
253. 

Partial knowledge, real, 7. 

Patronage of State, religion does not 
need, 256. 

Paul's experience as to sanctification, 
388. 

Perfections of God, 502. 

Pillsbury, E. C, mind-cure of en- 
teritis, 85. 

Pliny, the younger, stated day of 
Christian meeting, 280. 

Polycarp, 469. 

Polygamy, Mormon, 334; heathen, 
336. 

Polvgamists amenable to the State, 
267. 

Post-graduate Fellowships, 513-532. 

Preaching, doctrinal, 450; controver- 
sial, 452; evidential, 454; ethical, 
455. 

Preparation for the ministry, 440-475 ; 
preacher's work, 444; doctrinal 
preaching, 450; controversial, 452; 
evidential, 454; ethical, 455; pas- 
toral oversight, 459 ; general work, 
463; educated ministers, 467. 

Preserver of all things, 61. 

Prophets, inspiration of, 108-181; 
meaning of word, 115; character 
attested by miracles, 121; by pre- 
dictions, 121; by message, 122. 



Proudhon, Moses' appointment of the 

Sabbath, 298. 
Public schools, Bible in, 266; moral 

instruction in, 269. 



Reality of Matter denied, 71. 
Relation of God to nature, 23-56. 
Religion, and the State, 246-270; 

needs no State patronage, 256; will 

do its work for the State without, 

263. 
Religious inquiry, 497; colonial laws 

hostile to, 254. 
Renewal of Christians, 353. 
Rice, M., ascribes wonderful knowl- 
edge to Mrs. Eddy, 85. 
Riddle, M. B., inspiration of the New 

Testament, 212 
Riehm, E., Messianic Prophecy, 109; 

thoughts of prophets revealed to 

them, 159. 
Rogers, H., ethics subordinated to 

theology in Bible, 205; a seventh 

rest-day best, 299. 
Rothe, R., spirits can dwell in each 

other, 29; New Testament writers 

treat Old Testament words as God's 

words, 180. 
Rothschild, C. and A., History and 

Literature of the Old Testament, 

110. 
Royce, monistic philosophy of, 73. 
Rule, the Golden, 232-245. 



Sabbath, argument from, in favor 
of Lord's Day, 286; difference be- 
tween it and Lord's Day, 292; argu- 
ment from primeval, 293. 

Samuel, work as a prophet, 134. 

Sanctification, degree claimed, 372 ; 
description of, 374, 420; Christian 
experience examined, 403 ; another 
view, 420; progressive, 347,419; 
wrought by the Spirit of G^d, 347; 
complete, 327; means of, 421. 

Savile, B. W., Fulfilled Prophecy, 
110. 

Schopenhauer, on time and space, 3. 

Schurman, J. G., belief in God, his 
relation to Nature, 24-73. 

Science, Christian, by Mrs. Eddy, 
71-77. 



INDEX. 



573 



Scriptures, Divine authority of, 502; 
inspiration of, 182-217; what they 
claim, 188; authority of their teach- 
ing, 195 ; substance of their teach- 
ing, 198; object of their teaching, 
199 ; methods of teaching, 201 ; con- 
sistency, 203. 

Sealing, or being sealed, 355. 

Separation, but not divorce, 327. 

Shakspeare, W., quotation from, 241, 
306. 

Sinfulness inherited, 506. 

Sinless perfection, 378, 417. 

Smith, F. R., The Prophets in Israel, 
109; prophetic word from God, 
159. 

Smith, K. P., Prophecy a Preparation 
for Christ, 109; the .prophet a medi- 
ator, 158. 

Space, a condition of finite existence, 
8; Kant's doctrine rejected, 13. 

Spencer, H., our notion of the unlim- 
ited, 11; religious need of, 18. 

Stalker, J., effect of Christ's resur- 
rection on the disciples, 170. 

Standard of holiness, 417- 

Stanley, A. P., on 1 Cor. xvi. 1, 2, 
273; 1 Cor. vii. 15, 329. 

State, the, and Religion, 246-270; 
what are legitimate ends of human 
government, 246; three answers, 
247 ; the Roman, and paternal the- 
ories found wanting, 248 ; protective 
theory defensible. 249 ; the State not 
a business corporation, but a per- 
manent society, 249; plea of Elliot 
and Palfrey unsound, 250; early 
Massachusetts legislation sometimes 
unjust, 251 ; religion needs no State 
patronage, 256; religion will do its 
work for the State without patron- 
age, 263 ; relation of State to the 
Lord's Day, 264; use of Bible in 
public schools, 266 ; taxing of Church 
property, 267; polygamists amena- 
ble to the State, 268 ; moral instruc- 
tion in public schools, 269. 

State laws for Sunday, 314. 

State may secure quiet for worship on 
Lord's Dav, 264. 



Sunday newspapers, 309; laws, 314; 

railroad trains, ' 10; excursions, 312; 

opening of museums and libraries, 

313. 
Systematic Theology, value of, to 
'Pastors, 476-496. 



Taxing of Church property, 266. 
Text-books of morals for schools 

founded on civil laws, 269. 
Thayer, J. H., definition of a prophet, 

118 ; of apostle, 164. 
Tiers of Christians, 415. 
Time, a condition of finite existence, 

8; Kant's doctrine rejected, 13. 
Toy, C. H., date of 110th Psalm, 223; 

on the Aramaic use of the word 

"seeds," 226. 
Tyndall, J. experiments on biogenesis, 

37. 



Value of Systematic Theology to 
Pastors, 476-496; reason satisfied 
by it, 478 ; conscience guarded by 
it, 481; spirituality promoted by it, 
483; when and how it may be 
studied, 485 ; unbelievers convinced 
by it, 487 ; believers strengthened 
by it, 491. 

Webster, D., religion a necessary 

element in every great character, 

67. 
Weiss, B., Biblical Theology of the 

New Testament, 178. 
Wesley, J., perfection wrought in an 

instant, commonly at death, 348 ; 

idea of perfection, 375. 
Whatelev, R., early gifts of the Spirit, 

357. 
Wickliffe, J., 470. 
Williams, R., on liberty in worship, 

317. 
Wright, C. D., on the great number of 

divorces in the United States, 338. 



Zsvixgle, U., 471. 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



021 212 896 A 



